Remorse is for the Dead
by MeatwaD9021
Summary: Sasuke, a young hitman, is dealing with two worlds. The first being the world of contract killing, the second is keeping his secret from his friends. Can he do both at the same time, or will he have to give one up? Chapter 15 is up! Review please!
1. Sasuke the Hitman

REMORSE IS FOR THE DEAD

Chapter 1: Sasuke the Hitman

Authors Note: This is my first Naruto fanfic. Please be gentle. Oh, and I don't own Naruto.

* * *

I remember a saying I heard when I was growing up that said 'The destruction of a person builds character'. I always wondered the meaning of that saying. At first I thought that it meant when a person you care about dies it makes you stronger and helps mold you, but as I grew older my views on that saying changed.

When you kill someone, your life is forever changed. Be it for the better or worse. Every person reacts differently when one takes a life. Some feel a sense of dread, you know, the feeling you get when you've done something really bad and you know you're going to get caught. Some people get a sense of power, a feeling of invincibility, don't ask me why but they do. Some people feel horrible about it, but eventually cope. And then there's people like me, who feel nothing when they kill. No remorse, no pity, no joy, nothing. For me, killing is my job. It's no big deal. I get a contract on a person, I find them, take care of them, and then I get paid.

When you're in the business of contract killing, your main priority is to not moralize things. Moralizing is the worst. When you get to your target and you start thinking about the typical things 'normal' people think about before they may kill a person, you might hesitate. People might start thinking what if the guy or girl has a family, or its against the law, or its not what the bible says, then you start to question yourself. You don't need that. You are just doing your job, that's all. Its just a job. Its not personal, its just business. Some guys go and build houses, some are chefs, some fix your car, _I _just kill people for a living. I work like everyone else. That's my way of life.

* * *

"The boss wants you to take care of this guy some time this week. Thursday preferably. Are you free Thursday?" A young man with gray hair and glasses asked.

"Yeah, I'm free Thursday." Another young man replied. He had raven colored hair and his eyes were black and emotionless. His suit was all black except for his red tie. He read the file on his next target carefully then spoke, "Will there be any bodyguards?"

"Nah, the guy doesn't even know he's a walking corpse. He thinks Orochimaru is still all buddy-buddy with him. Which will make it all the more easier for you. Orochimaru says you can do it anyway you want. Shoot him, stab him, blow him up, it doesn't matter, as long as the fucker is dead and that nobody finds his body. Make him disappear. You'll get your normal pay." Kabuto explained.

The raven haired man nodded, "I shall take the assignment. Tell Orochimaru that this will be done on Thursday."

"Good to hear, Sasuke. Oh, another thing, have you decided on a answer to Orochimaru's offer?" Kabuto asked with a slight smile.

Sasuke nodded and said, "Yes, and the answer is no. I work for no one. I am a freelancer. I do jobs for people who pay top dollar. So far Orochimaru has been one of my top clients, but I have others. I do not take sides. I just do my job and expect to get paid. Nothing more, nothing less. I mean no disrespect to him, but that's just the way I work." Sasuke calmly and politely explained.

Kabuto shrugged, "Eh, suit yourself. Well, good luck, and we expect to hear from you the day after the job is done."

Sasuke nodded once more, then took his leave.

* * *

"I hate people, y'know that? I really do." A young, blonde haired man said angrily.

"Naruto, you always say that and you never mean it." A pink haired girl replied.

"This time I'm serious. This is the forth fucking parking ticket I've gotten in a month, Sakura. Four! That's insane! What, does the fucking city have it out for me?! I was an hour late before I ran out of time at the parking meter. They should have given me at least one more hour." Naruto explained.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Its only fifty bucks, its not that bad. You're not that poor. And if you don't slow the hell down you'll get a speeding ticket too."

"I'm only going fourty, its no big deal."

"Yeah, and the speed limit is twenty-five." Sakura replied.

"Fine, fine, but I'm not paying that ticket. The parking security guy can shove this ticket up his ass." Naruto fumed.

"Whatever," Sakura muttered, "Oh! Did you ever find out what Sasuke does for a living yet?"

Naruto shook his head, "Nope. I've tried to get it out of him, but he never says. I'm still betting he works for the CIA, that's why he can't tell us. Some top secret government shit, y'know? What about you? Any luck?"

"No, we talk a bit, but he has never mentioned what he does," Sakura was quiet for a moment then said, "I still think he's a underground porn star. He might be embarrassed to tell us."

Naruto raised a brow, "You'd like that wouldn't you. Would you go out and buy his porno movies he's in _if_ he was?"

Sakura blushed slightly, "You pervert…….I might."

"HA! Who's the pervert now?" Naruto said in triumph.

"You have to admit, he's pretty good looking." Sakura said.

Naruto eyed Sakura carefully, "If I said he was, would you call me gay or something? I don't swing that way. I may have _experimented_ in high school, but that was it."

Sakura giggled, "Oooo, getting all defensive now. Hmm, makes me wonder."

"Wonder all you want, I'm telling the truth here." Naruto replied, somewhat irritated that his straightness would be questioned, "Anyways, what's the pool up too?"

"Three hundred and fifty bucks. You get Sasuke to tell you what he does for a living, and all that money is yours." Sakura said.

The two sat in silence the rest of the way as Naruto drove to their destination: The Konoha apartment complex. It was a average complex. The apartments weren't fancy, but they were adequate. Plus, they knew almost everyone that lived there. Except Sasuke. Sasuke was their mystery person. Sure, they were friendly with him and he was friendly back, but he never talked about his past or what he did for a living. For the most part he would just listen to what everyone would say. As a matter of fact he almost never talks, unless he is addressed to. He and Naruto seemed to hit it off when they first met. Naruto, being the loud mouth he is, invited Sasuke over the first day he moved to the apartments, to have some ramen and beer. Sasuke at first declined, but the blonde's persistence finally got Sasuke over. Naruto introduced him to everyone in the apartment complex including Sakura. The three of them, having apartments right next to each other, hit it off. Not to long after that came the bets as to what Sasuke did for a living. Everyone at the complex that knew Sasuke had pitched in money and gave a guess as to what he did for a living, unbeknownst to him, or so they thought. Whoever would guess it right, would get it all. So far no one has guessed it right. If anyone knew what he did for a living, they might not want him near them.

* * *

After dealing with his temporary employer, Sasuke decided to head home. He had some preparation to do. He had six days to kill Orochimaru's target. Some young guy named Sakon. The file Kabuto provided Sasuke with gave him his address and hang outs. But Sasuke liked to study his targets personally, see what they did day to day.

He pulled up to the apartment complex and parked his car. He grabbed his briefcase, and headed to his apartment. His was located on the second floor, apartment 210. As he unlocked his door a certain blonde haired neighbor of his approached him.

"Good evening, Naruto." Sasuke greeted.

"Hey Sasuke. You up for some pizza and beer tonight? Kiba and Shikamaru are buying the pizza." Naruto said with a big fox-like grin.

Sasuke thought for a moment, "What time?"

"In an hour or so. You up for it?"

Sasuke nodded, "Sure, I might be a little late though. I have some things to clean up."

Naruto smiled, "Bitchin! I'll tell them you'll be coming." Naruto then took off back into his apartment.

Sasuke entered his apartment. It was small, but he didn't mind. The only company he had over was Naruto, Sakura , and a few other apartment folk. He had more then enough money to buy himself a mansion, but he chose not to. None of his employers know where he lives and he likes to keep it that way. He doesn't like bringing unwanted attention to himself, so they contact him by phone.

He placed his briefcase on the bed as well as his tie. He opened up the case to reveal a small arsenal of weaponry. A few handguns, some knives, a grenade, and silencers that fit to each of his handguns. He sat on the bed and pulled out one of his handguns as well a cleaning utensil and began to clean and oil his guns. Once he was finished he stripped down and took a well needed shower. By the time he finished and got dressed he heard a knock at the door.

He grabbed his trusty forty-five handgun and cautiously looked through the peephole to see who it was. It was Naruto.

"Hey teme, you comin' or what?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke smiled and hid his gun, then opened the door, "I'm ready. What kind of pizza did they get?"

"Pepperoni, and a ham and pineapple one. We also got lots of beer." Naruto said the last part in a sing-song voice.

Sasuke smirked, "Sounds good, I can't drink to much though. I need to get up early tomorrow."

"Oh, what are you doing tomorrow?" Naruto asked, hoping he would get Sasuke to slip up and say what his job was.

"Stuff." Was his simple reply.

Naruto frowned, knowing that was all he was going to say about it. The two entered Naruto's apartment and found Kiba and Shikamaru sitting at a small round table stuffing their faces with pizza.

"Gee, thanks for waiting." Naruto said sarcastically.

"You guys took to long, and I'm hungry, damn it." Kiba replied as he washed his pizza down with a cold beer.

"So, its just us guys tonight. The girls all decided to have a women's night out." Naruto explained as he sat down and reached for a slice of pepperoni.

"Did Ino go with them?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah, the troublesome woman asked me for fifty bucks to go spend with them. Probably gonna buy some more shoes." The young man lazily said.

Naruto chuckled, "You're so pussy whipped."

"No he isn't, you have to actually get pussy to be pussy whipped." Kiba said with a mischievous grin.

"Troublesome dog boy." Shikamaru muttered.

"You know, they should make a ramen pizza. I bet it would be awesome." Naruto said as he downed his first beer.

"I bet it would taste like shit." Kiba said.

"How would you know? It could be good." Naruto defended. Sasuke gave a slight smile at the argument that was taking place.

"No it couldn't. You'd probably be the only person who would eat it." Kiba retorted.

Naruto muttered under his breath then started on his second beer.

"I brought some cards over so we can play some poker." Shikamaru finally said.

"I'm game. How about you, Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"Sure, are we playing for money?" He said.

"Quarters and dimes only, I'm already poor on account of Ino." Shikamaru stated.

Kiba grinned, "You're so whipped."

* * *

After three hours of drinking and playing some poker, Sasuke decided he should probably get to bed. The other three who were much more intoxicated then he was, didn't really put up much of a fuss about it. He was walking out of Naruto's apartment when he accidentally bumped into Sakura.

"Sorry about that, I didn't see you." Sasuke apologized.

"Its ok. How did your 'men's' night go?" She asked.

"It was entertaining to say the least. Naruto is always fun to watch when he's drunk." He said with a smirk.

"That he is. Did hear about the time he kissed a guy at the bar down town?" She asked with a smile.

Sasuke frowned, "Unfortunately, yes. That guy he kissed was me."

Sakura stifled a laugh, "A-are you serious?"

He nodded, "It wasn't pleasant."

She let out her laugh, "The bummer is that I missed it. Did anyone take a picture?"

"No, and thank god for that." He replied.

"I can't believe I didn't hear that it was you. Damn, I always miss the good stuff. Anyway, I'm pretty tired, us girls did a lot of shopping." She said with a grin.

"I'm tired too. I'll see you tomorrow." He said as he walked towards his apartment.

"Good night." She said.

"Good night." He said as he entered his apartment.

He took his shoes and socks off and headed towards his bed. When he laid down he began to think as to how he was going to kill his next target. With the thoughts running through his head he turned out his lights and finally fell asleep.

* * *

Over the next few days, Sasuke stalked his target with ninja like stealth. Always following him, taking pictures of him, and thinking of ways he could dispose of him without any witnesses. He already decided that he was going to bury his body out in the woods in the outskirts of the city. There was a particular spot he chose to bury him, which was miles away from any people. No one would find him. Usually, he would get a 'disposable' car, put the body in the trunk and blow it up, but Orochimaru didn't want anyone to find him, so he opted for the woods.

Sasuke decided the best time to kill him would be at around eleven-thirty at night when he came home. He parked his car on the bottom floor of a parking complex right next to his apartment building. He was always alone at this time. He would drop his brother, Ukon, off at his house then head home after a days work, which usually consisted of selling drugs. Once Ukon was gone Sakon was all alone. It was a perfect window of opportunity. On top of that no one was up and about in the parking area at that time of night. He decided to finish the job a day early.

Sasuke had already coated the trunk of his car with disposable plastic so as not to stain his trunk with blood. In his back seat he had a shovel and some lime. He was ready and waiting at the bottom floor of the parking complex. He looked at his watch which read eleven-twenty nine. And as if on cue, Sakon rolled up in his silver BMW. Sasuke waited a moment and watched as Sakon stumbled out of the car. From the looks it, he was either high or drunk. Sasuke probably thought he was high, but it didn't matter, he was going to be dead in a few seconds anyway.

Sasuke put some black leather gloves on and un-holstered his H&K .45 handgun. He placed a clip full of hollow point bullets in the gun then screwed on a silencer to the barrel and then opened his car door and stepped out. He unlocked the trunk to make things faster. By this time Sakon had almost walked past Sasuke's car. He noticed Sasuke and gave him a confused look.

"Who the fuck are you?" Sakon muttered.

Sasuke didn't answer, but instead he quickly aimed his gun and fired two rounds into the young man's chest. Sakon immediately collapsed to the ground in heap. Sasuke holstered his gun and grabbed Sakon's arms and dragged him towards the back of his car. He opened the drunk and using all his strength lifted the body and shoved it in the trunk. He closed the trunk and went back to where he shot his target and picked up the two bullet casings his gun ejected. He checked to see if his target bled on the ground. There was no trace of blood. The hollow points made sure the bullets wouldn't exit his body and leave a mess.

He then got into his car, started it, and took off. There was no trace that shooting had just happened. During the drive Sasuke put in a CD. The drive was going to be long so he decided to listen to some peaceful music. After about thirty minutes into the drive, Sasuke was enjoying Beethoven's symphony number five, when he heard a light banging. At first he thought he might have a flat, but his steering was fine. As the light banging continued he thought he might have ran something over, then it dawned on him. Sakon might still be alive. He was almost to his destination so he decided to wait till he got there. The light banging persisted all the way to the burial sight.

Sasuke exited his car and opened the back trunk to see a dying Sakon, still alive mind you. The plastic coating his trunk was covered in blood. Bloody hand prints were smeared on the roof of the trunk. Sakon looked up at Sasuke with half closed eyes. He coughed up more blood then said in a soft and pained voice, "W-whatever it is I did, I-I'll stop. I'm sorry."

Sasuke pulled out his forty-five and aimed it at the dying young man and said, "Its nothing personal with me, just business." He then fired several rounds in the young mans heart and a final round in his head, effectively ending his life.

Sasuke undid the plastic covering the back of his trunk and wrapped the body in it. He then carried the corpse and dumped it into the hole he had dug. He grabbed the lime and his shovel in the back seat and poured the lime over the body, then he began to cover up the hole.

Sasuke got back into his car and headed home. No one would suspect that this young man had just killed someone. And no one would suspect that he would never get caught. This was his life and this was his job.

* * *

Authors note: Hello everybody! I hope you liked my first chapter. Tell me what you all think. I was thinking of doing some pairings but I wasn't sure who to pair up. Any ideas would be helpful, and so would reviews! 


	2. Killing is my business

Remorse is for the Dead

Chapter 2: Killing is my business, and business is good

I don't own Naruto. If I did, I would be damn rich.

Being a contract killer is an okay job. The pay is very good, that's for sure. The one problem is being able to spend the money you get for doing a hit. My average fee for a contract is two-hundred thousand, I charge a little more if there are problems. I usually get about five to six hit's a month, seven if it's a good month.

Now with all that money one would usually go out and spend it on fancy items. Not me. When your line of work is killing people you need to be discreet with how you spend your money. If the person is unemployed by the legal definition, the IRS begins to wonder where you're getting all your money, and even if the person has a small job like being a cashier at a grocery store, they can't go out and spend lots of money. That's why you use it for necessities such as bills and food. Because I save my money, I never have to worry about bills. I can't go out and buy fancy things, but that doesn't bother me.

Now, hitmen usually have a side job, you know, a job to make it seem like you're making a legitimate living. I have one that I do from home. Its simple and easy and its under a completely different name than mine. I write software for some small businesses down town. I never have to see them, I mail them everything from a P.O. box under my false name. It doesn't pay that much, and I rarely have to do it, but that doesn't matter. If a hitman is smart this is how he would go about his business.

* * *

Sasuke awoke to the irritating sound of his cell phone ringing. He muttered something under his breath then checked to see who the caller was. It was an unknown number. Only one person he knew of called him with unknown numbers. He sighed then answered.

"Hello, Itachi." He greeted in a tired voice.

"Good morning dear brother. Did I wake you?" Itachi asked. Sasuke could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

"This better be important." Sasuke growled.

"Oh, it is, if you want to get paid." Itachi replied.

"I'm listening."

"Good, meet me at mom and dads grave site in two hours." Itachi explained.

Sasuke looked at his watch, it read six-thirty two in the morning, "Alright, I'll be there." And with that the two ended their conversation.

Sasuke wasn't to thrilled at the thought of seeing his brother, but his organization did pay well. With the pay he received from Orochimaru three days ago and a new upcoming job, he was feeling pretty happy about his money situation.

* * *

Sasuke was waiting at his parents tombstones for his older brother to show up. Itachi was late or as he liked to put it, showing up in style. Either way, Sasuke didn't mind to much. He rarely ever came to visit his parents graves. He stared at the tombstones through his dark sunglasses. Memories of his parents going through his head, when he felt a presence from behind him.

"You're late." Sasuke accused, as his brother walked up to where Sasuke was waiting.

"My apologies little brother. The FBI has been watching us carefully as of late. Deidara and I had some difficulty losing their tracking helicopter." Itachi smirked.

It was amazing how much the two looked alike. Itachi's hair was slightly longer then Sasuke's and he was a little taller. He had slight bags under his eyes showing his older age, but other then that, the two looked almost identical.

"You guys must've done something really bad to get the feds on you." Sasuke murmured.

"Which is why I called you here. The Akatsuki is in need of your expertise once more," Itachi began to explain, "There is a particular witness we need you to dispose of. If he testifies in court we could get in serious trouble."

"Who is he?" Sasuke asked.

"A guy named Zabuza Momochi. He was a former partner of the boss and now he's gone FBI informant. We need him gone." Itachi explained as he handed Sasuke a manila folder with some papers in it. "Here is some information on him, mainly where he is staying. Normally, we would just have Kisame or Tobi go take care of this, but like I said, the feds are keeping a close eye on all of our activities. We need someone from the outside."

"Is he going to be guarded?" Sasuke asked.

"Most likely. That's why the boss is offering you four hundred thousand instead of your normal pay. He wants this done within two weeks. You'll receive your pay upon his death." Itachi said.

Sasuke nodded then put the folder under his arm then said, "So, why did you want to meet here?"

Itachi shrugged, "Don't know. I haven't visited mom and dads graves in a while. And I thought maybe we could _bond_ a little."

Sasuke gave a slight chuckle, "Yeah, that'll be the day."

The two began to walk back to their vehicles. Deidara was sitting on the hood of their car looking bored when he noticed the two brothers walking towards him.

"Hey, Sasuke. Long time no see, yeah?" Deidara greeted with a smile.

"Been about two months right?" Sasuke affirmed with a slight smile. He always liked Deidara.

He nodded, "That was when you whacked that crazy fucker with a grenade."

"Deidara, we need to get going. The boss doesn't like waiting." Itachi announced as he entered the passenger door of their Mercedes Benz.

"Right, see ya later, Sasuke. Good luck with the hit. Oh, if you want some extra firepower, you can meet Tobi at the where houses down by the docks. He'll hook you up." Deidara said as he got into the drivers seat.

Sasuke watched the two leave then headed to his car. He had a pleasant look on his face. Four hundred thousand dollars was a lot of money.

_"Some weapons and some music would be a good way to spend the money right now." _He thought to himself.

* * *

"Ok best mob movie ever made." Naruto said.

"Goodfellas, by far." A rather large young man eating a bag of chips replied.

"I don't know, the Godfather was pretty good." Another young man with tattoos on his face interjected. He was reading a magazine on heavy metal music.

"I'm gonna go with Chouji on this one. Goodfellas was pretty bad ass." Naruto agreed.

"Fine, what about best Star Wars movie?" Kankuro asked.

"A New Hope." Chouji said with a mouthful of chips.

"Empire Strikes back." Naruto said.

"I'm with you on that one, Naruto." Kankuro said as he changed pages on his magazine.

Chouji shook his head, then said, "Favorite porn star."

The three of them thought for a moment then Naruto spoke up, "That's tough, there are so many good ones, its hard to pick."

The other two nodded in agreement. That's when Sakura walked up to the three young men.

"You guys do realize that talking about movies and porn stars isn't part of your job." She said with slight irritation in her voice.

"Relax, there aren't any customers here. And Kakashi is in his office. Besides there isn't anything to do. Chouji and I went through all the CD's and made sure they were all in alphabetical order, and Kankuro vacuumed the floor. We've worked." Naruto explained with a sly grin.

"Why don't you tell that to Kakashi.." Sakura replied with a smirk.

The three boys looked confused when they suddenly realized that their boss was standing right behind them.

"Shit." Naruto muttered.

The other two boys ran off as soon as they realized he was behind them, leaving a poor Naruto to defend for himself. Naruto scratched the back of his head and gave a nervous laugh, "Hey boss. Didn't notice you there."

The silver haired man looked at Naruto incredulously then said, "I hired you to work, Naruto. Don't make me tell Iruka you were slacking off at work today."

"But what is there to do? We have no customers yet, there is nothing to do." Naruto whined.

Kakashi gave a lazy smile then said, "Find something to do that's productive then."

Naruto hated it when he said that. While he was muttering some curses under his breath he heard the main door open. He looked up to see who the customer was and his eyes widened in excitement when he saw Sasuke.

"Hey, teme! What brings you here?" Naruto asked with a big smile on his face.

Sasuke acknowledged Naruto and said, "Thought I'd stop by and pick up a CD or two. I heard from a loud neighbor of mine that this was the best music store in the city."

"You damn right it is. What kinda CD are you looking for?" Naruto asked.

"Some Bach." Sasuke answered.

Naruto lifted a brow, "Bach? As in the classical composer Bach?"

"Yes, Naruto, that Bach. Why, is that a problem?"

"No, its just I didn't know you liked classical. You seem more like a emo-rock guy." Naruto said seriously.

"Emo-rock? Why would you think that?" He asked.

"Don't know. Anyway, classical is this way." Naruto said as he guided Sasuke to the section he was looking for, "Oh, by the way, would you be up for joining Kiba and myself for lunch at twelve-thirty?"

Sasuke thought for a moment then looked at his watch. He did skip breakfast and was a bit hungry. Finally he answered, "Sure, where at?"

Naruto grinned and Sasuke sighed knowing what the answer was going to be, "Ichiraku's ramen place."

* * *

With two and a half hours to spare before lunch, Sasuke decided to take Deidara's offer and headed over to Tobi's where house. Tobi was one person Sasuke thought was weird. He always wore this bizarre mask. He didn't know why and never asked. He figured if a guy wore a mask like that all the time the guy had issues. He also did a lot of the dirty work for the Akatsuki, such as body disposal. He knew all the tricks in the book to get rid of a dead body. Be it draining a body of blood or chopping it up and getting rid of the pieces. Sasuke knew many ways to get rid of bodies, but Tobi was a god at it. He also sold weapons. Sasuke had purchased a few from him and he was always satisfied with them.

Sasuke pulled up to the where houses that Deidara said Tobi would be at and parked his vehicle. He stepped out of his car and casually walked towards a small metal door. He gave it a few taps then waited. The door peaked open and Sasuke saw a gun aimed right at him. He didn't even flinch.

"Hi Tobi." Sasuke greeted as if he were bored.

He sighed, "You scared the shit out of me. Didn't know who it was. Come on in." The masked man said as he opened the door and holstered his gun.

Sasuke could hear some muffled sounds coming from one of the rooms near by but didn't ask. Tobi lead him to a parked car inside the where house. He opened the trunk to reveal a cache of guns.

"Got enough guns here to take over a small country." Tobi boasted.

Sasuke nodded in agreement and reached for a Colt .45 that was laying on top of the pile. He examined it for a moment then handed it to Tobi. He then focused on a MP5 submachine gun.

"I've been looking for one of these." Sasuke murmured.

"Well, its yours for the right price." Tobi said.

"Four hundred, for both of them." Sasuke offered.

"Five hundred. That MP5 wasn't easy to come by." Tobi replied.

"Four fifty." Sasuke said.

"Deal."

Sasuke pulled out a wad of cash and counted out the money he owed, then handed it to Tobi.

"You gonna take the hit on that Momochi guy?" Tobi asked.

"That's correct. That's why I wanted that MP5." Sasuke explained.

"You know, you should get on the bosses pay roll. Come and work for us full time." Tobi suggested.

Sasuke shook his head, "I work alone, and I like it that way."

"Itachi would like it if you did." Tobi said.

"I highly doubt that." Sasuke replied.

Just then Kisame came out of the room that Sasuke was hearing the muffled noises from earlier. He had blood on his shirt and hands and he looked thoroughly pissed.

"Is he doing an _interrogation_?" Sasuke asked.

Tobi nodded, "Yeah, since the FBI has been on our asses, I have to sell my guns from this dump and we have to 'take care' of people here. It sucks."

"Where the fuck is that mini sledge hammer, Tobi?" Kisame shouted from across the where house.

"The guy still won't talk?" Tobi asked.

"No. I broke his nose and cut off his right thumb and both of his pinkies and the fucker still won't talk." Kisame fumed.

"Why don't you try the nail gun?" Tobi suggested.

"I don't wanna hook the damn thing up," He replied and rummaged through some junk, "Ah ha! Found it. After this he _will_ talk." Kisame said as he disappeared back into the room.

"Well, on that note, I think I'll head off." Sasuke said dryly.

* * *

"This ramen is so good, it should be a food group." Naruto stated as he slurped up some noodles.

"Ramen tastes all the same to me. I'd rather have a nice juicy burger with bacon in it." Kiba said as he twirled some ramen noodles on his chopsticks.

Sasuke said nothing, and ate in silence. He chose to listen instead of talk, as he did most of the time. The ramen he ordered had miso broth along with small pork chunks in it. Naruto had ordered one of everything as he usually did. Kiba ordered beef ramen.

"Burgers give you heart attacks and cancer, Kiba. They're bad for you." Naruto stated.

"Everything gives you cancer now days. I say fuck it. Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we may get cancer." Kiba said with a chuckle.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "So, how is Akamaru doing?" He asked, changing the subject.

"I took him to the vet the other day. He's been acting funny. I think he ate something weird." Kiba explained.

"Why's that?" Sasuke asked, and it being the first time he really got into the conversation.

"He hasn't been his usual active self, and he's been crapping funny colors. I think he ate some crayons or something. His shit looked like a rainbow this morning." Kiba explained.

"C'mon, Kiba! I'm eating here! I don't want to hear about your dogs rainbow colored shit." Naruto complained.

Sasuke didn't mind, he's seen and heard worse. He continued eating.

"Don't be a baby, Naruto. Sasuke doesn't seem to mind it, right Sasuke?" Kiba asked.

He shook his head, "I don't mind. Although it is rude table talk."

"Yeah, its rude, Kiba. Don't be rude." Naruto said as he stuck his tongue out in a childish manner.

Kiba shook his head then turned his attention to Sasuke, who was quietly eating his lunch.

"So, Sasuke, do want to join us guys again for some more beer and poker tomorrow night?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah, we can get all shit faced again!" Naruto beamed.

"Sorry guys, but I can't. I'm going to be busy for the next week or two." Sasuke politely declined.

Naruto and Kiba looked at each other, curiosity written on both of their faces, "Really? What would your business entail?" Naruto pried.

"Stuff." Sasuke eloquently said.

"What kinda stuff?" Kiba asked.

"The kind of stuff where I get paid when I do it, as the way most jobs go." He said with a slight smirk.

Both Naruto and Kiba sighed, they were never going to get it out of him.

* * *

Over the past week, Sasuke had studied Zabuza Momochi. He knew this job was going to be more difficult then usual. But with the firepower he had and his skill as a professional killer, the job would be accomplished without incident. Zabuza was staying in a nice condo and was constantly guarded by three men. Sasuke was pretty sure they were FBI by the way they dressed and by the guns they carried. Killing law enforcers wasn't Sasuke's favorite thing to do since it would attract unwanted attention, but it never discouraged him enough to not take a job.

Zabuza also would have many visits from his young boyfriend, Haku. At first Sasuke thought he was a girl, but later found out he was a 'he'. Haku wasn't a target though, but if he got in the way or was there when the hit went down, he would have to be killed along with the others. There could be no witnesses to this hit. Even if a neighbor happened to stroll by and see the hit taking place or see Sasukes face, he or she would have to be eliminated as well. It wasn't that Sasuke enjoyed murdering innocent bystanders who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, its just he couldn't take the chance of being caught. He would kill fifty people if it would stop him from going to jail.

Sasuke thought about doing the hit right then and there, but decided to wait. Rushing into things got you no where and things would most likely go sour if you didn't plan ahead of time. He wanted to be ready, and tomorrow, Sasuke will earn his four hundred thousand, or so he hoped.

* * *

Authors note: Sorry there isn't much action in this one. I wanted to do some more character development and introduce the Akatsuki. There shall be action in the next one, I promise. I hope you guys liked this chapter. Review please! I love getting reviews, even its real short. Thanks in advance! 


	3. The destruction of a person

REMORSE IS FOR THE DEAD

Chapter 3: The destruction of a person

I don't own Naruto and so on and so forth.

Having a conscious sucks. For the most part when I kill someone, I don't care. I feel nothing. I treat it as if one would take out the garbage. I like it that way. No guilt or remorse is the way it should be. But every once and a while, I get this small voice in my head trying to make me feel guilty for what I do. It rarely happens to me, but when it does its rather annoying. When this happens to a person in the business of contract killing it makes them second-guess themselves. Some push it away, some embrace it and lose their touch. As for me, I guess I'm beginning to be somewhere in the middle.

* * *

Sasuke exited out of his apartment with a duffel bag in hand. He locked his door and began walking towards the elevator. He heard a door behind him shut and turned to see Sakura exiting her apartment as well. The elevator opened and Sasuke held it open for her.

"Thanks." She said, then her eyes traveled to the duffel bag, "You going to the gym or something?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Yes, my gym clothes are in the bag, along with some shoes." He said deadpanned.

She nodded, "I thought so. I didn't think you would take a black suit to the gym." She said pointing to his current clothing.

"Are you off to work?" He asked.

"Yeah, Tsunande wants me to work a double shift at the hospital. It sucks but I say to myself that I am getting extra pay." She said with a tired smile.

The elevator reached the bottom floor and the two exited and said their goodbyes as they went different ways. Sasuke reached his car and placed his 'gym' bag in the back seat. He started the ignition and took off to his destination: Zabuza Momochi's condo.

* * *

"Why the fuck has the court date been postponed?" Zabuza yelled over the phone.

"The feds are still gathering up all the evidence needed for the case. Don't worry though, all of this will be over soon." The voice on the phone said.

"Don't worry? Do you realize that the Akatsuki wants me dead? It's just a matter of time before I'm gone. Then the fuckin' feds won't have a case at all." Zabuza shouted.

"Stop yelling, Zabuza. What the hell do you want me to do, huh?! I can't do shit. I already talked to the head FBI agent and the judge, there's not a god damned thing I can do. You are just going to have to wait. You have bodyguards, you should be fine. There is no need to panic." His lawyer said. There was a brief moment of silence then, "Zabuza? You there?"

Zabuza just sighed then hung up the phone. Just then the bathroom door opened to reveal a very feminine young man wrapped in a towel, "Is everything alright?" He asked with concern, his voice soft.

Zabuza shook his head, "No, everything is not alright. I try and do the good thing and it seems like no one cares about me, just the information I can give them."

The young man walked over to Zabuza and sat next to him on the bed and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "I care."

Zabuza sighed, "I know you care, Haku. I'm just worried that's all."

Haku hugged the older man, "How about I go get you something to eat, huh? There are some fast food places just down the street. I could go get you something while you just stay here and relax a bit, ok?" Haku suggested.

Zabuza looked at the young man in the eyes and smiled, "Yeah, that….that would be nice. Thanks, Haku."

"You're welcome." Haku said with a soft smile then gave Zabuza a gentle kiss on his lips. He then went to the bathroom to get dressed. Once he finished he left the condo to get food for the two of them, unaware of what he would come back too.

* * *

Sasuke pulled up to the condo complex and parked his car. He grabbed the duffel bag and unzipped it and pulled out the MP5 he purchased from Tobi and attached a rather large silencer on the barrel. He did the same with his trusty forty-five. He put on some leather gloves then exited the car and began to walk towards his target's condo. Sasuke checked the area to make sure no one was around. When the coast was clear he lifted up his MP5 and gave a knock on the door then stepped to the side to make sure the bodyguards couldn't see him through the peephole. The doorknob began to slightly rotate. It was time.

A knock was heard at the door. Zabuza sat up from the bed realizing that Haku had returned with food already.

"Its Haku with food you guys. You can let him in." Zabuza shouted to the guards.

One of them looked out the peephole and saw nobody but shrugged it off. He opened the door and was greeted with a bullet to the head. He immediately slumped to the ground and Sasuke cautiously entered. The other two were still slightly shocked at what happened to their friend, that they weren't even reaching for their weapons yet. One of the men jumped behind the couch that was there. The other wasn't lucky and Sasuke opened fire on him. Bullets tore through his body killing him.

"Zabuza, stay in the bedroom and lock it! Call the cops!" The surviving bodyguard shouted. He then lifted his gun over the couch and fired blindly. Sasuke ducked into the small kitchen area and hid behind the counter in there. He could hear the bullets zinging by. He waited until he heard the noise he wanted to hear. The gunfire ceased for a moment then he heard the bodyguard mutter, "Shit."

Sasuke smirked knowing that the man's gun was empty. He quickly got up and ran over to where the man was hiding and fired a bullet through his throat. He fell to the ground chocking on his own blood. Sasuke left the dying man to tend to his true target. He put the MP5 over his shoulder and pulled out his handgun and began to walk towards Zabuza's bedroom. He could hear his target frantically talking over the phone. Sasuke shot the doorknob off and kicked the door open to see a frightened man on his cell phone. His target stared at him in horror as Sasuke fired a round into his right lung. The man dropped the phone and fell onto the bed holding his wound. He coughed up some crimson liquid and held up a hand towards Sasuke.

"Please….don't do this." Zabuza coughed, tears began to stream down his cheeks.

Sasuke looked at the man with an emotionless face then said, "I have too. Its my job." Sasuke then slowly lifted his gun and aimed it at the man.

Zabuza closed his eyes then said, "Can you…..shoot me in the heart then?"  
Sasuke nodded then fired two rounds into his heart killing him. Sasuke was about to holster his gun when he looked at the bedroom entrance to see and young feminine man. It was Haku holding a bag of fast food. He had tears pouring down his face. He looked at his lover's dead body then he looked up at Sasuke.

"W-why? What did he do to you?" He softly asked as his voice cracked.

Sasuke sighed, "Its not personal, its just business." Sasuke replied as he lifted up his gun and aimed it at Haku.

"You did all of this f-for m-money?" Haku cried. Sasuke nodded then fired a round into the young mans chest sending a spray of blood from behind him. Haku fell to the ground still alive. Sasuke walked up to the dying man and aimed the gun at his head. Before he fired though, Haku spoke, "I-I for-forgive you." He choked out. His face held an angelic look. Sasuke suddenly felt a heaviness in his chest. He knew what it was: it was guilt.

"Thank you." Sasuke whispered out, then he pulled the trigger.

* * *

"Hey, Sasuke! Open up! I know you're in there!" Naruto shouted as he banged on his neighbors door.

The door opened to a slightly perturbed Sasuke, "What is it, Naruto?"

"We're having a party over at Kiba's. Wanna come?" Naruto asked with a big fox like grin on his face.

"Not really. I'm not feeling to well." Sasuke said.

"Oh come on, teme! It will be fun. You don't have to stay there the whole night. Everyone will be there." Naruto begged.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Fine, but I'm there for thirty minutes, then I'm gone, clear?"

"As crystal! See you there!" Naruto beamed and took off down the hall.

Sasuke closed his door and walked to his bedroom to dress properly. Ever since his job earlier today, he felt sick to his stomach. He didn't know why. He had killed numerous amounts of people and he had never felt like this once. It bothered him. It made him feel weak. Once he was dressed he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. As he reached for his toothbrush he looked in the mirror at himself. He sighed and closed his eyes trying to clear his mind. When he opened them he looked back into the mirror at himself and Haku standing behind him with lifeless eyes. Sasukes eyes widened and he quickly turned around to find no one there. His heart was beating at an incredible rate.

"Fuck, I must be losing it." Sasuke muttered.

He quickly turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water on his face. Going to the party was sounding like a good idea. It would get his mind off of things.

* * *

The party was lively to say the least. Everyone was drinking and loud music was being played. All the neighbors were there. Sasuke was just sitting down on a soft couch enjoying a cold beer when a young man with red spiky hair sat next to him.

"Hey Sasuke." The young man said in a monotone voice.

Sasuke recognized that voice, "Gaara, what brings you here?"

"Naruto. He wouldn't stop calling me." Gaara said in annoyance.

Sasuke smirked, "At least you don't live in the same building as him."

Gaara's face held slight amusement at his comment, "So, how's the business?" Gaara asked.

Sasuke frowned slightly, "It's not wise to be talking about our jobs in front of this many people, Gaara."

"No one knows what we do. I heard about your job on that Momochi guy. Even took out his lover. I never knew you could be so ruthless." Gaara said, his face impassive.

"He walked in on the hit. I had too. You know how it is." Sasuke defended.

Gaara gave him the slightest of smirks and said, "No need to explain yourself. I would have done the same."

Sasuke knew he would have done the same. Like Sasuke, Gaara too is a contract killer. But unlike Sasuke, Gaara doesn't really do it for the money as much. Sure he expects to be paid, but the real reason Gaara is a hitman is because he enjoys killing people. Gaara is the kind of guy that puts the barrel of a gun in a victim's mouth and takes pleasure in watching their eyes as he pulls the trigger. He's sadistic and bloodthirsty. He may seem calm when he is around friends, but when he's on the job he's like a demon. He could act like your best friend at diner and by desert he could put a knife through your jugular vein if you angered him.

"How's business with you?" Sasuke asked, trying to change the subject of his recent hit.

Gaara gave Sasuke a rare smile that almost sent shivers up his spine, he would never admit it though, "Business is good. I just finished a hit the other day on some small time bookie. You should have been there. I never knew a man could scream so high pitched," Gaara said as he gave a small chuckle, "It was rather funny."

Another thing Gaara liked to do to his victims was torture them before he killed them. Sasuke never did that and never wanted to. It took up to much time and it wasn't as efficient as putting a bullet in some ones head or heart. Sasuke asked one time why Gaara didn't just finish a person off quickly. He told him that it was boring, and that there is nothing better in the world then hearing a human screaming in pain.

"Hey guys! I just heard the funniest joke!" A drunken Naruto announced to the two young hitmen.

Gaara and Sasuke both looked up at the blonde and waited to hear the joke.

"Ok, so it goes like this: There's a man sitting at a bar just looking at his drink. He stays like that for half an hour. Then, a big trouble-making truck driver steps next to him, takes the drink from the guy, and just drinks it all down. The poor man starts crying. The truck driver says, 'Come on man, I was just joking. Here, I'll buy you another drink. I just can't stand seeing a man crying.' Then, the guy that's crying says this, "No, it's not that. This day is the worst of my life. First, I fall asleep, and I'm late to my office. My boss, in an outrage, fires me. When I leave the building to my car, I found out it was stolen. The police say they can do nothing. I get a cab to return home and when I leave it, I remember I left my wallet and credit cards there. The cab driver just drives away. I go home and when I get there, I find my wife sleeping with the gardener. I leave home and come to this bar. And when I was thinking about putting an end to my life, you show up and drink my poison.'" Naruto smiled then started laughing, "You get it? The guy drank his beer, which was poisoned! HA! That's some funny shit, huh?" Naruto said, still laughing

Gaara gave a small smile and Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle slightly, "Yes, Naruto, I get it. It's pretty funny."

"Hell yeah it is!" Naruto exclaimed, "That whole joke is about fate and shit, or something like that. I don't know, that's what Neji told me."

"I don't believe in fate." Sasuke stated.

"Really? Why's that?" Gaara asked.

"If something happens, it happens, nothing is predestined." Sasuke stated.

Naruto nodded pretending he cared, "That's deep, Sasuke. Y'know, everyone believes in something, _I_ believe I'll have another beer." Naruto chuckled at his statement, then stood up and quickly ran over to the fridge.

* * *

Sasuke quickly woke up from sleep. His body sweating profusely. He got out of bed and went to the bathroom. He knelt in front of the toilet and threw up. The vile liquid burned his throat. Once he finished he brushed his teeth and tried to go back to sleep, but he couldn't. There was a constant feeling of guilt and remorse stinging the back of his mind. He kept on seeing Haku's crying face, his innocent face. He hated it. He didn't know why he felt bad but he did.

He got out of bed and put on a robe and walked out of his apartment and headed to the apartment across from his. He gave a soft knock then waited. He didn't expect an answer; it _was_ two in the morning after all. He couldn't believe he was doing this in the first place. He felt silly. He decided to turn back then the door suddenly opened revealing a blonde head and tired blue eyes.

"Sasuke? What are you doing up so early." Naruto yawned.

"Sorry about this Naruto. I-I don't know what's wrong with me. Just having bad dreams. Sorry to wake you. I'll head back."  
"No, no. Its ok. Come on in." Naruto tiredly invited Sasuke in. Sasuke hesitantly went in.

_"What the hell is wrong with me? I've never been like this."_ Sasuke thought.

The two sat down at Naruto's dinner table and quietly looked at each other for a moment. Finally Naruto spoke up in a tired manner, "So, what's up?"

Sasuke sighed, "Do you ever feel evil, Naruto?"

Naruto gave Sasuke a weird look, "Evil? Like how?"

Sasuke shrugged, "I don't know. Like have you ever done something really bad and you never got caught for it, but knowing what you've done is eating away at you, making you feel horrible?"

"Why, have you?" Naruto asked.

"I asked you first." Sasuke quickly said.

Naruto's face softened up then he said, "I, uh, I remember one time me and some kids down the street used to believe this rumor that down on fifth street lived a cannibalistic old man who would eat kids. Well, us being kids wanted to find out. We got to the guys house and for some reason we started throwing rocks at his house. We broke a few of his windows and then quickly left. Later, I found out that the man that lived there was a poor old guy who lost his leg in a car accident along with his wife," Naruto looked ashamed, "I guess you could say I did feel evil after doing that."

Sasuke was stunned at how much Naruto just opened up to him, "That was just childish stuff Naruto. I'm talking about something really horrible."

Naruto lifted a brow at him, "Why Sasuke? Have you done something bad?"

Sasuke nodded, "I did something bad at work. Something that I have done many times and never felt bad about it, but now I do. I don't like it."

Naruto was quiet then said, "Sasuke…what exactly do you do for a living?"

Sasuke smirked for a moment, then said, "How much is the pool up to?"

Naruto had an embarrassed look on his face, he didn't realize Sasuke knew about the bet, "It's, uh, it's up to three-hundred and fifty bucks." He answered sheepishly.

"Well, when it reaches a thousand, how about I tell you what it is that I do, and then we can split the money." Sasuke smiled.

Naruto chuckled, "That would be awesome. Lets do it."

Sasuke nodded then said, "Deal." He then got up and said, "Well, I better get back to bed. Thanks for talking with me. I appreciate it."

"No problem. Always like to help out a friend." Naruto said.

When Sasuke laid down on his bed, he finally fell back asleep. His talk with Naruto helped, but he still could see poor Haku's face when he closed his eyes.

* * *

Authors note: Hope you guys liked this chapter! It took me a while to write the action scene so I hope you all like that too. Tell me what you guys think of it so far. Please review, I love reviews and they help me know what you guys like and don't like and they tell me if I am doing good or not. 


	4. Everyone Hates Everyone

REMORSE IS FOR THE DEAD

CHAPTER 4: EVERYONE HATES EVERYONE

I don't own Naruto

There are a few things all contract killers should avoid when taking a hit. I have a list of my top two. The first one is getting involved in doing hits against rival gangs or crime families. You do this and it makes you look like you're taking sides. If it looks like you're taking sides, then they get upset and before you know it, you have two groups who hate each other trying to kill you. When asked to do this kind of hit one must respectfully decline, if your client doesn't take no for an answer, well, then that leaves you with two options, take the hit and get the hell out of town _or_ kill the client and any witnesses and make it look like a rival gang or mob hit.

The second is drugs. Hitmen should not be involved in any kind of mind-altering substance. This can ruin your perception, your ability to make good calls, slow down your reaction time, and on top of that it fucks with your mind. And yet I find myself getting sucked into these things.

* * *

"It's about time you showed up." An annoyed Sasuke said as his brother entered his car on the passenger side. He was holding a small briefcase.

"Traffic was awful." Itachi replied.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "So, is that my money?"

"Of course, and the boss sends his thanks. I must say you did a good job. Killing his lover was a nice touch." Itachi said with a sinister smirk.

Sasuke was silent as he checked the money, "Haku just happened to walk in on me, I had no choice." He defended.

Itachi lifted a brow; "I wasn't condemning you for it. I was saying good job."

"Well, don't. I didn't like it. I hate it when people that aren't planned in the original hit get killed."

"Feeling remorseful, little brother?" Itachi sarcastically asked.

Sasuke didn't reply for a moment, he sighed, then said, "Itachi, I need to ask you a favor."

"Hmmm? And what favor might that be?"

Sasuke hesitated at first then said, "I was…..I was wondering if you could get me some painkillers."

Itachi smirked, "I don't have any aspirin with me. Just go to the store and get some."

"Not aspirin, something stronger. Something _not_ 'over-the-counter' if you get what I mean." Sasuke said annoyed.

Itachi's face darkened, "What kind of painkillers did you have in mind? I'm not giving any mind-altering drugs. I don't want you fucking up future hits."

"I don't want mind altering drugs. I want painkillers like Vicoden or something." Sasuke replied.

"Why do you need Vicoden? You don't look like you're in pain."

"I'm not in pain. I want it to help me sleep better." Sasuke explained.

"Nyquil helps you sleep better, Vicoden knocks you out for a day." Itachi said, his voice low.

Sasuke gave an annoyed grunt, "Fine, whatever. I'll just get some on my own. I've helped your organization, and yourself, numerous times, and you can't help with this simple thing?"

"I'm just watching out for my little brother. Mom and dad would want that." Itachi's voice getting slightly louder.

"Don't use that big brother bullshit on me. You never gave a fuck about what mom and dad wanted. If you did you wouldn't be in one of the most well known crime organizations in the city." Sasuke replied in anger.

Itachi eyed his little brother, "And being a mass murderer would please them?" He snapped. He then rubbed his temples and sighed, "I'm not here to argue about family problems. I have bigger matters to deal with. You want some drugs? Fine, I have some Valium in the Mercedes. Its like Vicoden, but a bit stronger." With that said, Itachi got out of the car to retrieve the said drug. He returned with a small plastic container, "There's about fifty pills in here. Each one is about thirty milligrams; so only take one at night. Not two, one. You take two and you might not wake up, got it?"

Sasuke nodded his head and put the bottle of pills in his glove compartment, "Thanks."

"Whatever." Itachi said as he walked back to his car.

* * *

For the longest time Sasuke never felt remorse or guilt for the murders he's done. He would occasionally get that little voice in his head saying it was wrong, but for the most part he would push it away. But for some reason, killing Haku made him feel bad. The fact that he said he forgave him for killing him and Zabuza made him feel even worse.

"_I should have killed him before he could've said anything."_ Sasuke thought.

He made it home without running into any neighbors and decided that he would take a nap. He hadn't been sleeping well and it was taking its toll. He had bags under his eyes and his skin was paler than usual. Amazing what guilt and stress could do to you. He popped open the lid to his newly acquired drug and dry swallowed a pill. He then went to lie down on his bed. Soon he found himself in a blissful and dreamless sleep.

* * *

"Sasuke! You there? Hey Sasuke!" A certain blonde haired neighbor shouted.

Sasuke woke up feeling groggy. He looked at the time and realized he had slept the entire day; it was almost eight at night.

"Sasuke, you alive in there? _Hello_?!" Naruto shouted once more.

Sasuke groaned as he got out of bed and went to the front door. He opened it to see a very fidgety and wide-eyed Naruto.

"Guess what guess what!" Naruto said almost jumping up and down.

"What?" Sasuke asked in a tired voice.

"I just won thirty bucks!" The blonde stated.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Good for you."

"Don't you want to know how?"

"Not really, but I have a feeling you're going to tell me anyway." Sasuke murmured.

"Yup! I bet Kiba, Shikamaru, and Neji that I could drink five energy drinks in three minutes. They all pitched in and I did it! But now I feel funny, not 'ha-ha' funny, but funny as in I can't stop moving or talking. Am I talking to much, cause if I'm talking too much then I'll stop but I can't stop. I love caffeine! HA HA!!!" And with that Naruto bound down the hall like a ferret on crack. Sakura picked that moment to exit out of her apartment and was almost run over by the overly energetic blonde.

"Naruto! You almost killed me!" She shouted to the fleeing blonde.

"Sorry, Sakura! My bad!" He yelled back as he ran down the stairs.

Sakura noticed a bewildered Sasuke standing outside of his apartment dressed in only a black tee shirt and some black shorts. His hair was a bit messy.

"What the hell was that all about?" Sakura asked.

"He drank five energy drinks in three minutes." He replied with a deadpanned look.

Her face paled, "Oh god. He's going to be running up and down the stairs for hours. I better call Iruka." She muttered as she went back into her apartment to make the call.

Sasuke stood there for a moment, thinking about how weird his neighbors were, before he went back into his apartment. He saw his cell phone flashing, indicating he had some missed calls. The first one was from Sasori, an ex-Akatsuki member. He decided to leave the organization and start his own little syndicate. He controlled most of the urban, inner city and worked in drug trafficking as well as number running and prostitution. He wasn't powerful enough to rival the Akatsuki or Orochimaru, but he was slowly rising to the top. He wanted to meet with Sasuke and discuss a 'job offer' with him. Sasuke hated driving through the ghettos, but he realized money is money. His second message was from a sales person named Randy, offering him better insurance for his car. He deleted both messages and decided to see Sasori.

* * *

Sasuke had to admit that Sasori was his least favorite client. He's unstable. He acted like he had something to prove. That's not why Sasuke didn't like him though. The reason Sasuke didn't care working for him that much was he always was late with his payments. Sasuke hated late payments. When he did a job he expected to be paid one to two days after the hit. No more, no less. But that wasn't the case with Sasori. He always paid a week or two after the hit. It annoyed him to no end. But he couldn't complain too much, at least he _did_ pay him.

Another reason he didn't like meeting with him was Sasuke had to drive through Crip territory to get to Sasori's. Because most of the cities crime was run by the Japanese organizations, the Crips didn't take kindly to people of Asian ethnicity. Granted Sasuke had done two hits for the said gang, but that didn't mean they liked him.

As he drove through the slums he wondered who Sasori wanted dead. He was a paranoid man at times and would kill anyone he thought was a snitch. Sasuke seriously thought that maybe this would be his last time he would take a job from him.

"Sasuke! Good to see ya! Have a seat." Sasori motioned to the chair in front of his desk. Sasori sat in his large chair as well.

"So, what is this 'job' you wanted to talk to me about?" Sasuke asked.

"Its big. Here read this." Sasori handed Sasuke a file. The young hitman opened it and his eyes widened slightly when he read who it was.

"You want me to take out the Akatsuki's boss?" Sasuke asked.

Sasori gave Sasuke a sinister smile and said, "Yeah, pretty cool, huh? I'll give you four times the normal pay."

Sasuke shook his head, "I can't take this hit, Sasori. The entire Akatsuki would come looking for me, not to mention you. I've told you this before; if you want to take out someone that's a rival of yours then have one of your own men do it. I don't take sides. I can't take this hit."

Sasori frowned, "Don't be such a bitch. Take the fucking hit. It'll be worth it Sasuke. I could hire you full time. I could be the head crime figure of this city with him gone."

"No, you'll be a dead man by the end of the week as well as myself. I can't take this hit, Sasori. I'm sorry." Sasuke stated firmly.

Sasori scowled at him, "You _will_ take this fucking job, Sasuke, or I'll kill you."

Sasuke sat there for a moment, thinking. Then he finally said, "Does anyone else know that you plan on killing him?"

Sasori blinked for a moment, then said, "No. The only ones that know about us meeting tonight are you and I."

"Good." Sasuke said.

Sasori smiled in triumph, "So you are taking the job? I knew you'd see things my way."

"Actually, I'm going to kill you." Sasuke stated.

Sasori raised a brow, "What?"

And before Sasori could blink, Sasuke quickly pulled out his forty-five and fired a round right between Sasori's eyes sending blood and brain matter all over the wall behind him. The body twitched for a moment then stopped. Sasuke then calmly stood up and exited Sasori's home. A slight ringing was going through Sasuke's ears.

_"Wish I had my silencer when I shot him."_ He thought.

He hated the position Sasori had put him in. He didn't like killing clients, but Sasori was risking Sasuke's business. Sasuke was relieved to hear Sasori say that no one else knew about their meeting. He didn't have to worry about killing more people.

As he drove he saw a small grassy park. The adrenaline of the encounter he had just had was beginning to wear off and relaxing in a small grassy park sounded nice to him. It was something he rarely did. He pulled over to the side of the road and exited his vehicle. He made his way to the grass and laid down staring at the few stars he could see through the thick layer of smog.

As he lie there, many thoughts ran through his head. He was starting think that being a hitman was taking its toll on him. He wasn't feeling bad about killing Sasori, he was still feeling bad about that young man, Haku. He could still picture the tears rolling down his face before he pulled the trigger.

"God, maybe I'm getting to soft." He muttered to himself.

While Sasuke laid there, he suddenly heard the sound of approaching footsteps. He sat up to see two large black men wearing blue bandannas. He immediately recognized that they were Crips.

_"Shit."_ Sasuke thought.

"Watcha doin' here man?" One of them asked.

"Just resting." Sasuke replied casually.

"Nah, man, you're not restin' your trespassing mother fucker." The shorter of the two replied.

"I didn't see a sign that said no trespassing. The sign over there said public park." Sasuke stated.

"Well, that fuckin' sign don't apply to you." The taller one said.

"You see that?" The smaller one asked as he pointed to a wall close by that had graffiti of skulls and names on it, "That's a sign."

"I thought that was graffiti." Sasuke said, his face calm.

"No, it's a fuckin' sign." The smaller one said.

"He can't read it, man." The taller one said, he had an angered look on his face.

"Well then I'll read it for him. It says that this is private fuckin' property, and that there is no fuckin' trespassing, and that means you." The shorter one said as he pointed at Sasuke.

Sasuke raised a eyebrow, "Wow, it says all that?"

"Yeah." The short one said.

"Well, maybe if you wrote it in fucking English, I could fucking understand it." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Watch your mouth you Chinese, egg roll, eating mother fucker." The taller one said as he pulled out a switchblade.

Sasuke frowned, "What do you plan on doing with that?"

"I'll fucking cut out your tongue with this if you don't give me your money." The taller one said.

"Ah, I see. Well, let me get it for you." Sasuke said as reached in his coat then pulled out his gun and opened fire on the two-gang members. Both of them falling to the ground with a thud. The taller one was still alive and trying to crawl away. Sasuke kicked the man over on his side so the gang member could see Sasuke's face.

"And by the way, I'm Japanese you ignorant prick." Sasuke said as he pulled the trigger.

* * *

Sasuke wasn't in the best of moods when he reached his apartment. He had just killed three people within a matter of three hours. He was smart enough to make sure he didn't leave any evidence behind. It wasn't the first time gang members tried to mug him. He remembered when several skinheads wanting to kill Sasuke because he was Asian approached him. He gave a faint smile remembering what he did to them.

As he walked up to his apartment he saw a man walk out of Naruto's apartment. He had a scar that went across his face. It was Iruka. He smiled when he saw Sasuke.

"Hey Sasuke. How are things?" Iruka asked in a friendly manner.

"Ok. I'm a bit tired." He replied, "Has Naruto crashed off of his caffeine high?"

Iruka chuckled, "Yeah, he walked up and down the apartment complex for two hours then threw up. After that he went straight to bed."

Sasuke smirked, "Only Naruto."

"Yeah, I hear ya. Well, I better take off. Good talking to ya." Iruka said as he walked towards the elevator.

"Same to you." Sasuke said as he entered his apartment.

As Sasuke got ready for bed, he wondered how the Akatsuki would react to Sasori's death. He was hoping they wouldn't care, but you could never know with them. He took one of the pills his brother gave him, then he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Authors Note: Hope you guys like this chapter. I didn't think it was the greatest, but I saving the good stuff for later. I've also got mixed reviews as to whether or not this should be a pairing fic or not. I personally could see it going both ways. I'll wait till I get more reviews before I decide. And if there are any grammar mistakes, I'm sorry. I went over it three times, but I wouldn't doubt if there are still some. Thanks to all who have reviewed! I really appreciate it! Your input has helped me out! 


	5. Blood Junkie

REMORSE IS FOR THE DEAD

CHAPTER 5: BLOOD JUNKIE

I don't own Naruto

Working with other hitmen can be a win or lose situation. If there are to many people for just one person to kill, having a partner can help sometimes, or if you need another guy to watch your back while you're digging a hole to dump a body in. Sometimes an extra man can come in handy, as long as you give them a part of the money you make.

The bad side to having a partner is you never know if they might squeal on you if they get caught, or if they might go bat shit and kill you or kill more people then necessary. Sometimes other hitmen are unpredictable and you don't know what to expect. That's why you never go with another hitman that you can't trust.

* * *

Sasuke was in a drug induced daze. He laid on his bed staring at the ceiling, unable to go to sleep. It had been over two weeks since Sasuke had started taking the pills and killed Sasori. It was all over the papers. Some headlines were saying that it was retaliation from the Akatsuki. Others were saying that Orochimaru's crew did it. Sasuke would have laughed at the thought that no one knew he was the one who killed him, but right now he was wondering why taking one pill wasn't working the way it should. Yeah it made him feel good and tired, but it wasn't putting him into a dreamless sleep like it had been for the last two weeks. He would sleep and then wake up from nightmares. He would see Haku's innocent face crying at him, asking him why he did it.

Sasuke was doing everything possible to keep his mind off the young man he murdered. He would go over to Naruto's and watch movies and go to his little parties. He would chat with Sakura and let her talk about how her day went at the hospital. It worked during the day, but at night, when no one could help him keep occupied, he couldn't stop the guilt. For some reason, out of all the people he's killed over the years, Haku made him feel like shit. He made him feel true remorse and guilt for the first time in his life and he hated every moment of it.

After some consideration, Sasuke decided to throw his brothers advice about taking more then one pill out the window. He grabbed the bottle, opened it and popped another pill in his mouth and swallowed it. It wasn't too long before Sasuke finally fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

A young red-headed man was waiting in his car, his pale green eyes staring intently at a buildings back door. His face was emotionless making his cold stare seem eerie. His attire was a black suit with a red tie and his hands were wearing black leather gloves. After a few moments of waiting an older man walked out of the building and began to walk to another parked car.

The red head scanned the area, as if making sure no one was watching, then he slowly exited his car and calmly walked towards the man. Once he reached him he asked, "Excuse me, sir. You wouldn't happen to be Mr. Tommy Santoro would you?" The young red-headed man asked.

The said man turned to face the red-head and said, "Maybe, who wants to know?"

The red-head gave the man a creepy smirk then aimed a gun at Mr. Santoro and said, "Your bosses say good bye." And with that he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet straight through Mr. Santoro's head.

The young man looked at the body for a moment then holstered his gun, grabbed the dead mans legs, dragged him to his car and stuffed him into his trunk. He realized he was going to need some help chopping up the body and digging a hole. He grabbed his cell phone and dialed the number of one person he knew would help.

* * *

Sasuke was woken up by the sound of his cell phone ringing. He lazily reached over and grabbed it, checking to see who was calling. He frowned to see who it was and answered.

"Hello, Gaara." Sasuke muttered.

"Sorry for calling you so late, Sasuke, but I need your help with a stiff. I'll give you a third of the pay I get if you help." Came Gaara's calm voice.

Sasuke thought for a moment, "I don't know if you want me helping you. I took some Valium before I went to bed."

"That's fine. I don't need your firepower, I just need some help disposing the body." Gaara calmly explained.

Sasuke gave a tired sigh, "Sure. Where do you want me to meet you?"

"I'll come to your place. Meet me in the back parking lot, and bring your hacksaw." Gaara said as he hung up.

Sasuke got up, his body feeling the effects of the drugs. He stumbled to his closet and changed into a white collared dress shirt and some black dress paints. He tucked his forty -five in the front of his pants then went to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face to help wake himself up. He looked into the mirror and noticed the dark bags under his bloodshot eyes.

"God, I look like shit." He said to himself.

He went into his storage closet and opened a box containing some large tools. He grabbed his hacksaw and awaited another call from Gaara. Sasuke was surprised when he heard a knock on his door. He looked through the peephole to see the pale green eyes of Gaara looking at him. Sasuke opened the door and said, "What the fuck are you doing up here? You said to meet in the parking lot."

Gaara gave an uncaring shrug, "Doesn't matter. You got the saw?"

Sasuke nodded, then the two walked out of the complex and into Gaara's car. Sasuke got in the passengers side and Gaara got in the driver seat and started the car. Once they were on the road, Sasuke asked, "So, who's the stiff?"

"Tommy Santoro." Gaara casually said.

"Really? I thought he was a made man."

Gaara smirked, "He isn't anymore. Guess the other bosses didn't like the way he was running things. I was a little disappointed when they told me to go easy on him and make his death painless, though."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Where are we burying him?"

"Out in the woods. I know of a place where no one goes." Gaara stated.

"Wake me when we get there." Sasuke said as he leaned his seat back and closed his eyes.

* * *

Sasuke was snoring lightly when we was abruptly awoken by Gaara shaking him awake. Sasuke opened his sleepy eyes and said, "I'm awake."

"Good, because we have company." Gaara said, his voice serious.

Sasuke quickly pulled his seat up and looked behind him to notice some blue and red flashing lights, "Shit, the cops. Were you speeding?"

Gaara shrugged, "Not sure."

Gaara then pulled over to the side of the road as did the police car. Sasuke made sure his shirt was hiding his gun. Gaara had a calm yet creepy face. Sasuke thought this situation could go on without a hitch, or it could all go to shit in a matter of seconds. Gaara unbuckled his seat belt and opened his door.

"I'm going to talk to him. Stay here, but be on alert. I might need your back up." Gaara said.

Sasuke nodded and had his hand ready to reach for his gun. He looked through the side mirror to keep watch of what was happening. From the looks of it the police officer and Gaara were engaged in what seemed like normal conversation. Both had passive looks on their faces. Sasuke couldn't quite hear what they were saying. He saw Gaara nod then the red-head walked back to the car and opened the door.

"He wants to check the car." Gaara informed.

Sasuke groaned, "Well, what do you want to do?"

"This," Gaara stated as he reached for his gun he had hidden in his coat. He quickly pulled it out and opened fire on the unsuspecting police officer. Three bullets tore into the officers chest spraying blood in a mist like form. Sasuke quickly got out with his gun drawn. The officer was already on the ground dead. Gaara walked up to the body and fired two more rounds into the dead officers head.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!" Sasuke shouted.

"I told you, he wanted to check the car. He would've found Tommy stuffed in the trunk. He had to go." Gaara stated in a chilling tone.

Sasuke sighed in irritation, "Whatever, you're taking care of the body then. I'll get the video tape out of the cop car."

Gaara nodded then dragged the body to his car and placed it in his trunk next to Tommy Santoro. Sasuke checked the police vehicle and found the video tape that recorded the murder that just took place. He got back in the car where Gaara was waiting for him.

"You get the tape?" Gaara asked.

Sasuke held the video tape up to show Gaara, "Right here. Now lets get the hell out of here."

Gaara stepped on the gas and the two were off with one extra body in the trunk.

* * *

Sasuke was busy digging a hole while Gaara was quietly cutting up the bodies with the hacksaw. Gaara was wearing some plastic gloves and a large rubber apron so he wouldn't get blood on his suit. Sasuke hated cutting up bodies and he was glad that Gaara was doing it. Just hearing the saw cut through the skin and bone made him feel queasy at times. Gaara on the other hand seemed to enjoy it. His face was so focused on what he was doing.

Sasuke finally finished digging the hole, and Gaara was just finishing up on the police officers body. Tommy Santoro's body parts were all put inside a large trash bag in which Sasuke placed in the hole. Gaara finished cutting off the officers head. He then grabbed a small hammer and smashed out the officers teeth. This was done in case someone happened to stumble across the body. They wouldn't be able to get accurate dental records. He then placed all the body parts in another trash bag which he handed to Sasuke, who in turn threw it in the hole.

The two then covered the hole up and quickly left the area. Gaara had a look on his face as if nothing had happened. He looked calm. Sasuke on the other hand was feeling tired. The Valium he took was still in his body. The fact that he and Gaara had just murdered a cop wasn't bothering him that much. What was bothering him was the fact that it was two-thirteen in the morning and he wasn't in his bed.

* * *

When Sasuke reached his apartment he felt exhausted. He just wanted to lay down on his soft bed and fall asleep. As he got out of his clothes a voice spoke up.

"Do you think that officer had a family?" The voice asked.

Sasuke's eyes widened in horror. He recognized that voice. When he turned to face his bed he couldn't believe what he was seeing. There was Haku sitting on Sasuke's bed, staring at him with lifeless eyes.

"Y-you're dead." Sasuke stammered.

"I know." Haku's soft voice said.

"You're not real. You can't be real." Sasuke stated in horror.

"Of course I'm not real. You killed me. I'm just a hallucination your guilty mind has created." The imaginary Haku said.

Sasuke rubbed his eyes and ran to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. When he returned to his bedroom he was relieved to see that Haku was gone.

"Holy fuck. I'm losing it." Sasuke stated.

* * *

"Hey Shika, do you like women with large breasts or women with _huge_ breasts?" Naruto casually asked. Sasuke and Neji just rolled their eyes at his question.

"I'm dating Ino, that should answer your question." Shikamaru replied in a bored tone.

Naruto gave a sly grin, "So, are they huge?"

"They're just the right size." He replied.

"What are you boys talking about?" Ino asked from across Naruto's apartment.

"Nothing!" The two men said at the same time.

Ino, Sakura and Hinata were in Naruto's living room talking with one another while, Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji and Sasuke were sitting at the dinner table playing cards.

"Ok, what's your favorite old-school rock band." Naruto asked as he dealt a hand to each of the guys.

"AC/DC." Shikamaru stated as he checked the hand he was dealt.

Neji thought for a moment, then calmly replied, "I would have to go with Guns and Roses."

"KISS all the way." Naruto said with a smile.

The three guys then looked at Sasuke, waiting for him to answer. His mind was elsewhere and he really hadn't heard what the conversation was about. He just heard something about rock music. Sasuke raised a brow then said, "I don't really listen to rock music that much."

"Oh come on Sasuke. You have to like some old-school rock band of some sort." Naruto whined.

Sasuke thought for a moment, "The Beatles." He then looked at the hand he was dealt.

"They're not really rock, but it'll do." Shikamaru said.

Naruto had a big grin on his face as he looked at the hand he had. The other men had annoyed faces as they looked at their cards.

"You don't really have the best poker face, Naruto." Neji said.

"Yeah, grinning like mad isn't a good poker face." Shikamaru stated.

"How do you know I'm not making this face just to throw you guys off?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Because you suck at poker. And when you actually get a good hand we all know because your face lights up." Sasuke said.

Naruto frowned, "You guys suck. I wanna play a different game now."

"No more games, man. Its troublesome dealing with you being a sore loser." Shika stated.

"That's because playing against a genius isn't fun. You and Neji always win. I'm gonna go watch TV with the girls." Naruto pouted and left the table.

The three boys then followed Naruto and sat down and watched TV with the girls. Ino snuggled up with Shikamaru. Sakura and Hinata were still having some small chat while Neji and Sasuke sat next to each other and waited for Naruto to pick a good channel. Something caught Sasuke's eye as Naruto flipped past a channel quickly.

"Wait, Naruto, go back two channels." Sasuke quickly said.

"Why? That's just the news. News is boring." Naruto said.

"Just go back real quick."

Naruto sighed, "Fine."

He went back two channels to find that the top story was a missing police officer outside the city.

"So far, the police department have no witnesses and no evidence. The police video tape was taken out of the car. The only sign of a struggle was a small pool of blood on the ground. The police are still searching…." The news caster said.

Next came a clip of the missing officers wife and two kids, both girls. The three of them were sobbing while reporters were taking numerous pictures of them. Sasuke felt his stomach churn.

"That's horrible." Came Hinata's soft spoken voice.

"I know, those poor kids." Ino's sympathetic voice said.

"I bet he's dead." Naruto said.

"Don't say that. He could be ok." Sakura said.

Sasuke's stomach felt worse. If only they knew what really happened to that officer. He was glad to know that they had no evidence, but when they had the officers family crying on the TV, he felt that pang of guilt again.

"Are you alright, Sasuke?" Neji asked, his voice held concern.

Sasuke nodded, "My stomach hurts a little, that's all. I think it was something I ate earlier. No big deal."

Neji's pale eyes held disbelief but he shrugged and said, "Ok."

"You can change the channel now, Naruto." Sasuke said.

"Yeah, this is depressing." Shikamaru stated.

After some channel surfing, the group decided on a movie. Sasuke, still feeling nauseous, decided to leave early. When he got to his apartment he quickly ran to the bathroom and threw up. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

" I was right. He did have a family." Came the soft voice of Haku.

Sasuke quickly got up from the toilet to face Haku, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Where are you?" Sasuke asked in anger.

"In your head, Sasuke." Haku's voice said.

"Why won't you go away!" He shouted.

"Don't yell to loud. People might think you're crazy." Haku stated.

Sasuke pondered that a moment. He really was going crazy. He was seeing and hearing a person he murdered over two weeks ago. Something was wrong with him. Sasuke quickly ran back to the bathroom and grabbed his bottle of pills and swallowed two of them.

Sasuke gave a maniacal chuckle then said, "HA! This will get rid of you! What do you have to say about that?!"

There was silence, the only noise that could be heard was the sound of cars from the street below. No voices, nothing.

"Say something!" He shouted to the empty apartment.

Still, there was no reply. Sasuke felt tired all of the sudden. He laid on his bed and tried to calm down for a moment. He finally came to a conclusion.

"I think I need psychiatric help." He said to no one in particular.

* * *

Authors note: Hello, once again! Hope everyone likes this chapter. Gaara is one of my favorite characters so I enjoyed writing his part. Thanks again to everyone who has read and reviewed my fic! Thanks to queen46, cloudydayz, sweet song, and XxAnonymous1xX for your reviews. And a extra special thanks to chibismiles5266 for the reviews and for advertising my fic! You guys should check out chibismiles5266 fic called **MY NEIGHBOR**. It's a Sasuke and Hinata fic and its really good! Check it out! 


	6. Vengeance is mine

REMORSE IS FOR THE DEAD

CHAPTER 6: Vengeance is mine

Vengeance is never a good motive to kill someone. When you're angry at someone because of something they did to you or someone close to you, going out and killing them is the worst thing to do. Your actions are blinded by rage and you tend to leave things behind such as evidence. You're usually not thinking clearly when you kill someone out of revenge. That's why other people hire hitmen, so they get who they want killed, and they don't get their hands dirty. Someone who is thinking clearer gets the job done for them. But what if you are the hitman, and you want the revenge? Then what?

* * *

"Naruto said you could help me out. So far I'm not satisfied." Sasuke muttered.

"Naruto also failed to mention to you that I'm not a licensed Psychiatrist. I'm just good at dealing with people's problems. And second, you refuse to cooperate." Iruka explained.

"I told you. I'm hearing a voice." Sasuke repeated.

"Is the voice recognizable?" Iruka asked.

"What do you mean recognizable?"

"Is the voice from someone you know?" Iruka asked once again.

Sasuke stiffened; he was looking for the right words to say, "Kinda. Its from someone in the past."

"And what exactly is he or she saying?"

"_He_ is trying to make me feel guilty." Sasuke quietly said.

"Guilty about what? Something you did?"

"Something…I did at work." Sasuke murmured.

"Oh? And what is it that you did at work?" Iruka gently asked.

Sasuke paused for a moment, trying to word what he was going to say without giving away what he really did, "Something personal, I don't think I can tell you just yet. He's just saying things that make me feel guilty, and I hear it as clearly as I hear you right now. What should I do?"

Iruka thought for a moment, "Well, I would see a real psychiatrist and see if I could get prescribed medication."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "I don't need medication. I just want the voice to go away."

"Medication does that, Sasuke. What you're experiencing is schizophrenia, that's not something that should be taken lightly. You need professional help. I can't help you. Naruto just liked to talk about things that bugged him and his feelings, you're talking to me about a serious mental problem. On top of that, you don't want to tell me the real reason why you think you're hearing this voice. And who knows, maybe your conscience has taken the persona of this person at work to make feel guilty. I don't know, I'm just throwing things out here." Iruka explained.

"Can't you just give me some advice maybe?" Sasuke pleaded.

Iruka sighed, "Confront this voice, and ask it what it wants. See if that works. I honestly don't know what else to say, Sasuke."

Sasuke thought for a moment, "Don't tell Naruto about this ok?"

Iruka nodded, "I won't. Just consider getting some real help if this keeps going on."

Sasuke gave a slight nod then exited the apartment. He got into his car and thought for a moment. He didn't know what to do. The fact that he killed people for a living made it hard for him to tell Iruka why he was truly feeling the way he was feeling. It was driving him mad. He thought about asking Itachi if he knew any psychiatrists that would help hitmen deal with their _issues_, but he thought against it. He didn't want Itachi knowing that he was hearing a voice in his head. As he drove home he decided that maybe he should take a vacation from killing people.

Ever since Gaara and Sasuke buried the cop, Sasuke's dreams were getting worse. Not only was he still dreaming about Haku, but he kept on seeing that cops family in his dreams. On top of that he kept on upping the dosage of his pill taking. The one good thing that Sasuke was relieved, was that he wasn't physically seeing Haku anymore. He just kept on hearing his voice when trying to sleep. His face looked like that of an insomniac. His eyes were always slightly bloodshot and the black bags under his eyes seemed to stand out more. Who knew guilt could fuck with your life so badly.

* * *

"If you were an animal, what kind would you be?" Naruto asked.

"Not sure. There are lots of animals to choose from." Kankuro replied.

"I'd be a fox." Naruto stated.

"Why a fox?" Came the monotone voice of Gaara.

Naruto shrugged, "Don't know, I just think they're cool."

The three young men were eating lunch across the music store that Naruto and Kankuro worked at. Kankuro called up his brother to see if he would want to join. Surprising enough, Gaara did.

"I think you'd be a raccoon, Gaara." Naruto said.

Gaara took a bite out of his sandwich then said, "Why's that?"

"Those bags under your eyes give you a raccoon like look." Naruto said with a smile.

Kankuro looked at his younger brother and said with a grin, "It does give you a raccoon look."

"At least I don't look like tattooed freak." Gaara retorted with his cold voice.

"You're just jealous that you didn't think of getting these awesome tattoos. Chicks dig tattoos." Kankuro said.

As the three were talking, neither of them saw Sasuke walk in the restaurant. He pulled up a chair next to Naruto.

"Sasuke! What's up?" Naruto said with a big smile.

"Not much, was driving by and noticed your car was parked here. Thought maybe I'd stop by and join you guys for lunch. I've got nothing else to do." He stated dryly.

"Same here." Gaara stated. The two hitmen were in a rut. There had been no hits in the last week.

"Kankuro and I are on our lunch break. I wanted to go to Ichiraku's but these two didn't want to." Naruto said with a fake pout.

"I'm sick of eating ramen. I wanted _real_ food." Kankuro said.

Naruto rolled his eyes, then he remembered, "Oh! Hey, Sasuke, how did talking with Iruka go? Did he help?"

Sasuke shifted in his seat, "Yeah, it went fine."

"What did you talk about?" Naruto asked.

"Just some stuff that happened at work." Sasuke calmly said.

Gaara gave Sasuke a disturbing look, "Really? And what exactly did you tell him about your _work_?" Gaara asked in cold tone.

"Nothing. I was just telling him that I wasn't feeling to well, because of my long work hours." Sasuke lied.

Gaara kept an eerie gaze on Sasuke, "That's all?" Gaara asked.

"Yes." Sasuke stated in a calm tone.

"Sounds boring. Glad I missed it." Naruto rudely stated.

After they finished lunch, Naruto and Kankuro went back to work leaving Sasuke and Gaara alone.

"I really hope you didn't tell him what it is you do for a living." Gaara said.

"I'm not a complete idiot, Gaara. I was extremely careful with what I said. I wouldn't want to have to kill Iruka. He's a good man and Naruto loves him like a father." Sasuke said.

Gaara gave a slight nod, "Good. I wouldn't want you to either. Naruto is a good guy. I wouldn't want to hurt Naruto."

Sasuke gave Gaara a weird look, "I didn't know you cared."

"Naruto has always been nice to me. Even when I was mean to him at first he was still nice. People like him are rare. I don't have many friends because of my job, so I feel lucky I ran into him."

Sasuke nodded in agreement. Naruto is a good guy. He remembered when he first moved into his apartment. Naruto came banging on his door and was so excited that he had a new neighbor. Since then Sasuke grew attached to him. Naruto was like a puppy that would follow you home, begging for attention. Same with Sakura. He remembered when she first met him she couldn't stop blushing every time she talked to him. She eventually got over her blushing fits, and the two became good friends. Sasuke wouldn't admit it but he was glad they were his neighbors and friends. He just had one question.

"How did you meet Naruto?" Sasuke asked, his curiosity spiked.

"Kankuro introduced him to me. He would invite me to every party and so on and so forth." Gaara quietly explained.

"Weird, huh? He's such a nice guy, he's befriended two hitmen." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"I'm sure that would change if he found out what we do for a living." Gaara said.

"He won't find out." Sasuke assured him.

* * *

Nighttime had befallen the city and Naruto had picked up Sakura from her hospital shift. The moon was giving off an eerie glow.

"So, how did work go?" Naruto asked.

"Slow. Nothing really exciting happened." Sakura said.

Naruto reached for his keys as they approached his car, "I got to see Sasuke and Gaara today, so that was my highlight." Naruto beamed.

Sakura smiled, "That's cool. How's Gaara doing?"

"He's still moody, but deep down I bet he's a nice guy. He's just to shy to show it." Naruto explained as he unlocked his door.

Sakura was about to say something when she gasped. Naruto looked up to see a young man holding a knife up to Sakura's throat.

"Empty your pockets and give us the keys to your car, and the pink haired bitch lives." The young man replied. He had a slight scar on the right side of his face.

Naruto heard some footsteps behind him. He turned his head slightly to see two more men with guns aimed at him. They both had shaved heads and wore black leather jackets. Skinheads, Naruto thought. His heart rate rose. He complied with the mans orders and emptied his pockets. The two men with guns grabbed Naruto's wallet and keys and checked for cash. Sakura was letting out soft whimpers as the man held the knife close to her neck. She had tears running down her face.

"Look, I gave you what you guys want. Just let her go. She hasn't done anything." Naruto offered.

"No, I think we might have some fun with her. This pink hair of hers is pretty hot. Hey guys, you up for a nice fuck?" The scarred young man replied.

The guys that grabbed Naruto's belongings looked up at Sakura and gave wicked smiles, "Hell yeah. She's a pretty little thing."

"How would you like a nice hard dick in you? It'd make you feel like a woman." The young man holding the knife whispered in her ear.

Naruto clenched his fist. He wasn't about to let these men rape Sakura. As one of the men was going to open Naruto's car door, Naruto swung his fist and hit the man in the face. The man fell to the ground shouting in pain. The other man with a gun, pistol-whipped Naruto on the back of the head causing him to slump to the ground. Naruto's eyes widened as the pain ran through his body. The two began to kick Naruto mercilessly as he lay helpless on the ground. He could faintly hear Sakura's screams as he lost consciousness.

* * *

Naruto awakened to the sound of beeping. His blue eyes slowly opened to reveal a white ceiling. The beeping continued and he slowly turned his head to see a heart monitor to the side of him.

_"Shit."_ He thought.

He realized he was in a hospital room. His head hurt like hell and the last thing he remembered was Sakura screaming. His eyes widened and his heart rate started rising. The heart monitors beeps started getting faster. When he suddenly felt a hand on his chest.

"Calm down, Naruto." Came Iruka's voice.

"S-Sakura! She needs my help!" Naruto said in a panicked tone.

"Its ok, Naruto. She's fine. Everything is ok. You need to rest." Iruka said in a calming voice.

Naruto blinked for a moment and calmed down realizing his surroundings. He then said, "How long have I been out?"

"About two days. You took quite the beating." Iruka stated.

"And you're sure Sakura is ok?" Naruto asked.

Iruka nodded, "She's ok, Naruto."

Naruto laid back down. His thoughts muddled as he fell back asleep.

* * *

Sasuke made his way through the hospital hallways until he reached Naruto's room. When he entered he found Sakura and Iruka in there. Sakura was sitting next to Naruto's bed while Iruka walked up to Sasuke.

"How is he?" Sasuke asked.

"He's doing better. He just woke up today." Iruka explained.

Sasuke clenched his fist, "Will he be ok?"

Iruka nodded, "Yeah, he'll be fine in a week or so. At least that's what the doctors said. You can go talk to him if you want."

Sasuke thanked Iruka and walked over to Naruto's bed. He went to greet Sakura and was surprised to see a few bruises on her face. She looked away from him in shame. He gently grabbed her face and examined her bruises.

"Did they hit you?" Sasuke quietly asked.

Sakura slowly looked at Sasuke with tears in her eyes and she nodded, "They were going to do worse, but Naruto stopped them. I should have done something to help."

He gritted his teeth at seeing Sakura's bruised face then said, "There was nothing you could've done. This could have been a lot worse."

Sakura gave a slight nod then got up from her seat and let Sasuke see Naruto. His face had bruises and cuts and his right arm was in a sling. He had several patched up areas on his body as well. Sasuke could feel a rage build up inside him. A rage he hadn't felt in years. And for what? His neighbor? No, his friend. A person who went out of his way to be friendly to him. One of the few people he can call a friend. And at seeing his friend like this, Sasuke's fury began to escalate. Naruto's eyes opened and he gave a slight smile at seeing Sasuke.

"Hey teme. What's up?" Naruto softly said.

Sasuke gave a soft smile, "How're you feeling?"

Naruto gave a slight chuckle then said, "Like I got the shit beat out of me."

Sasuke gave a smirk then his face darkened, "Who did this to you, Naruto?" Sasuke's voice was cold and stern.

"Some skinheads from the looks of it. They stole my wallet and my car, can you believe that?" Naruto said in slight disbelief and hurt.

Sasuke could feel his anger swelling up, "Do you remember what they looked like? Anything at all?"

"Yeah, one of them had a scar on the right side of their face. I told the police that when they came in earlier today."

Sasuke gave a reassuring nod, "Anything else? Did they say their names or anything?"  
Naruto shook his head slightly, "No, not that I remember. You might want to ask Sakura," Naruto paused for a moment, "Why do you want to know?"

"No reason. I just hope the police catch those bastards." Sasuke lied. In reality he wanted to find the guys that did this and bring a pain upon them that would make them wish they weren't born, "What's the damage?"

Naruto gave a soft sigh, "I have two cracked ribs, a hair-line crack on my right arm. I had a concussion, but I think its gone."

"You should've just gave them what they wanted and not fight, Naruto." Sasuke gently reprimanded.

Naruto gave Sasuke a slight shake of his head, "I couldn't Sasuke. T-they were going to rape Sakura. I couldn't just let them do that. Better have them go after me then her." Naruto said, whispering the last part.

Sasuke gave a quiet nod, understanding Naruto's reasoning. He wanted vengeance. "You should probably get some rest."

Naruto nodded, "I _am_ feeling kinda tired." Naruto stated.

"You get some sleep. You need it." Sasuke said.

"Thanks for stopping by." Naruto said with a tired smile.

Sasuke gave him a slight nod then he turned around to face Sakura, "Did you give a police statement?"  
"Yes. We told them what Naruto's license plate number was and what they looked like and everything." She said.

Sasuke gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "Good. What _is_ Naruto's license plate number?"

Sakura blinked at him then thought for a moment, "59FK031, why?" She asked.

Sasuke shrugged, "Maybe I could find something on the computer about his car. Just a thought." He lied.

"Oh, well, thanks for visiting," She said.

"You take it easy and watch over him." He said.

She nodded then went back to sit by his bed. Sasuke left the room with a new mission: To find and kill who did this to Naruto and Sakura. Nobody messes with his neighbors and friends. As he exited the room he noticed a redhead leaning against the wall looking at Sasuke.

"He's awake?" Gaara asked. Sasuke just nodded. Gaara gave a sigh, "I assume that you want to find the guys who did this." Gaara said in a monotone voice. Sasuke nodded once more, "Good, then lets head to my car. I think I may know where these skinheads are hanging out."

Sasuke gave a creepy smirk, and for the first time in a long time, he actually wanted blood.

* * *

"I brought some of my tools. They're in the trunk. I also brought you a piece which is under your seat." Gaara explained as he was driving.

Sasuke reached under his seat to find a small .38 special revolver. He gave a disapproving look, "You couldn't have got me a bigger gun?" Sasuke asked.

Gaara shook his head, "No, but don't worry, I've got the big guns in the trunk. That's just your back up gun."

Sasuke nodded and tucked the gun in the front of his pants, "What kind of tools did you bring."

Gaara gave a faint smirk, "I brought my _special_ bag."

Sasuke knew what his _special_ bag was. It was a bag full of tools that Gaara used for the sole purpose of torturing his victims. Sasuke had the displeasure of watching Gaara use his tools. Gaara's personal favorite was a hatchet, which he would use to dismember his victims while they were still alive. If Gaara wasn't a hitman, he would've made a really good serial killer.

"Do you know where these guys are?" Sasuke asked.

Gaara gave a slight nod, "Their hangout is about ten blocks away from where they attacked Naruto and Sakura. They have swastikas and Nazi crap spray painted all around the area they hang out at, so it will be pretty easy to spot them."

"They stole Naruto's car. If we can find his car, then we know we have them." Sasuke explained.

"They stole his car? That sounds a little big for some punk skinheads." Gaara thought out loud.

Sasuke shrugged, "Could be the Aryan Brotherhood. Does it really matter?"

"No, they're dead whoever they are." Gaara said in calm manner.

"Naruto said one of them had a scar on the right side of his face." Sasuke stated.

"Then he will die last." Gaara vowed.

Sasuke knew what that meant. The scarred man was going to die a horrible and painful death at the hands of Gaara, and that didn't bother Sasuke one bit. As the two drove down some rather unpleasant parts of town, Sasuke noticed the racist graffiti on the buildings begin to increase.

"What if we don't find the guys that did this to Naruto and Sakura at their hangout?" Sasuke asked.

Gaara shrugged, "Don't know. Haven't thought that far ahead. We could just kill everyone that's there." He suggested nonchalantly.

"Fine with me. It'd make me feel better." Sasuke agreed.

"Me too." Gaara calmly said.

Gaara found an empty alleyway and parked there. Sasuke had a puzzled look on his face, "Why did you park here?"

"Because their hang out is two buildings down the street." Gaara said as he opened his door and stepped out of the car. Sasuke did the same and the two went to the trunk of the car. Gaara opened the trunk to reveal a small arsenal of weapons along with Gaaras bag of tools and a canister of gas.

"What's the gas for?" Sasuke asked.

"When we're done we burn the place, getting rid of fingerprints and whatnot." Gaara explained as he reached down and handed Sasuke a twelve-gauge pump shotgun, along with some extra shells.

"It's loaded." Gaara warned Sasuke. Sasuke just nodded and placed the rest of the shells in his pocket.

Gaara put on his special tool belt and placed his hatchet, a pair of wire cutters, and some pliers. Sasuke knew that these guys were in for a world of hurt. Then Gaara reached down in the trunk and grabbed a loaded TMP sub-machinegun. He looked at Sasuke then said, "You ready?"

Sasuke nodded. Then the two were off. Gaara was leading Sasuke down a path of alleyways. Both were on alert. Neither of them wanted to be seen sneaking around with guns. As they got closer, the sound of loud rock music could be heard. Gaara pointed to an abandoned building that had some light coming out of it. The two walked towards it being careful of their surroundings. When the two reached their destination, Gaara peaked his head through a window to make sure they had the right gang. Gaara noticed all the Nazi paraphernalia and then looked at all the men there. They _were_ the Aryan Brotherhood. Gaara looked back at Sasuke giving him a signal that these were the right guys. They quickly made their way to one of the doors leading into the building.

"So, what's the plan?" Sasuke asked.

Gaara thought for a moment then said, "I was thinking we can go in, guns blazing and the ones that aren't dead we interrogate."

"Sounds good to me." Sasuke said.

Gaara then backed up and readied himself to kick down the door. Sasuke had his shotgun in position, ready for action. Then with all his might Gaara kicked the door making it fly open. Sasuke quickly ran in and fired at the first person he saw, which was a stunned skinhead, and killing him instantly. Sasuke gave a faint smile as he killed the man. Oh, yes, tonight was going to be fun.

* * *

As Naruto laid in his hospital bed he began to ponder. He was thinking about Sasuke. Not in a romantic way, more like a worried way. He considered Sasuke a friend and usually would never think bad about people, but when he saw Sasuke's reaction to what happened to him, Naruto felt a strange fear wash over him. He couldn't explain it. It was the face that Sasuke made. Naruto had never seen Sasuke look like that. His face held an eerie look as if he wanted to kill somebody. It held a darker side that Naruto hadn't seen in his friend. He was just hoping it was his imagination.

* * *

Sasuke calmly aimed his shotgun at a fleeing young mans legs and fired. The small pellets from the shotgun tore through his legs making them look like Swiss cheese. The man screamed and fell to the floor, clutching his legs in agony. Sasuke casually walked over to the young man and dragged him back to the main entrance of the building. So far this was the only person that he spared tonight.

"What the fuck do you want, man!? I didn't do anything to you!" The young skinhead screamed.

Sasuke didn't answer and just placed the young man against a nearby wall so he could support himself. Automatic gunfire and screams could be heard from other room's, courtesy of Gaara. Sasuke just hoped he would leave at least one alive for interrogation.

That's when Sasuke heard some shallow breathing. He looked over to the bodies that were strewn across the floor and found one body slowly breathing. Sasuke walked over to the body and was surprised to see that one of the older gang members was still alive, despite several gunshots to his abdomen.

"H-help m-me." The man gurgled.

Sasuke gave the man a nod. He then pulled out his .38 special and aimed it at the mans head and fired.

"W-what the fuck is wrong with you?! Why did you do that?!" The young man that was alive asked.

Sasuke looked over to him and said in a cold voice, "He wanted help, so I helped him."

"You fucking killed him! How is that helping him?!" He shouted.

"He was going to die anyway, might as well put him out of his misery." Sasuke calmly stated.

Just then, Gaara burst into the room dragging a bleeding man with him. It was then, that he noticed, that the man had a scar on the right side of his face. Sasuke smirked.

"Found the fucker." Gaara casually stated as dropped the man next to Sasuke's catch.

"Good, then I don't this guy anymore." Sasuke said as he aimed his shotgun at his catch.

"Wait! Don't d-" The young man was silenced by the roar of the shotgun being fired into his chest.

"Jesus! What do you guys want?!" The man with the scar asked in panic.

Gaara gently knelt down and looked at the scarred man. Gaaras was face calm and calculating. He then noticed the man had a lip ring. Gaara gave a wicked smile then reached for his pliers.

"I'm going to ask a question once and only once. If you don't answer me, I think you can guess what I'll do with these pliers." Gaara explained, his voice soft yet cold. The scarred man nodded, then Gaara said, "Good. Now who else was with you when you mugged a young blonde haired man and a pink haired girl about two days ago? Answer truthfully."

The man looked at Gaara with fear, realizing what these guys were here for, "Look, I'm sorry we did that. If we would have known we-"

"I didn't ask for an apology. Strike one." Gaara said as he quickly ripped the scarred mans lip ring off. The man screamed in pain, clutching his bloody lip. "Now answer my fucking question or things will really get ugly." Gaara threatened.

"You killed them already! They were here with me! You nip motherfuckers probably killed them!" The man screamed.

Gaara's face contorted with anger, "Excuse me? Did you just call me and my associate here, nips?"

"You heard what I said. You killed all of my friends so you can go to hell!" He shouted.

Gaara looked over at Sasuke. Sasuke just gave Gaara a nod and with that, Gaara smiled. He put his pliers away then pulled out his hatchet from his belt. The scarred mans eyes widened in horror.

"I would like for you to meet a really good friend of mine. For the last few minutes of your pathetic, ignorant, racist life, you are going to get intimately acquainted with him." Gaara stated with a wicked smile. Sasuke turned his head to avert the morbid sight that was about to take place. All he could hear was the pained screams of the young scarred man.

* * *

Gaara walked out of the place with a eerie smile. His clothes, hands, and a bit of his face were covered in blood. Sasuke's face was passive. He was glad they killed them, although he did think Gaara got a little carried away. After Sasuke doused the place with gasoline, he left the building, lit a match and threw it in causing the entire place to burst into flames.

The two quickly made it back to their car and sped off into the night. Gaara was heading over to Sasuke's place to drop him off. As they pulled into the parking lot, Sasuke got out, but before he shut his door he asked, "Are you getting rid of the guns?"

Gaara nodded, "Of course. I planned on taking them apart then dumping them in the river."

"Good, and on that note, I'm off to bed." Sasuke said as he shut Gaaras door. As he walked up to his apartment he had a strange feeling come over him. A feeling like something bad was going to happen. He shrugged it off.

"So, do you feel better now that massacred all those people?" Came the voice of Haku.

Sasuke gave a tired sigh, and decided to ignore the voice in his head. He put on some night clothes and didn't even bother with taking a shower. As he was brushing his teeth heard the voice in his head again, "I know you feel bad. I am your conscience, in a way, and I was created by you as well so I know everything you're thinking."

"I don't feel bad at all. Why would I feel bad for a bunch of racist assholes who worship Hitler?" Sasuke argued with his conscience. He did remember Iruka saying something about Haku taking the place of his conscience, he thought he was just making that up.

"They had families, and most of them had nothing to do with mugging Naruto and Sakura." The conscience said.

"To bad for them. This argument is done." Sasuke said as he dry swallowed two pills then headed for his bed. While laying in bed, waiting for the pills to take effect, Sasuke thought about Naruto and Sakura. He wondered what they would do if they found out about his lifestyle. He chose to not think about it and drifted off into sleep.

* * *

Authors Note: Dun dun DUN!!! What is this feeling that Sasuke is getting? Will Naruto find out what Sasuke really does for a living? These questions shall be answered in the next chapter. I realize this chapter is a bit longer then the others so I apologize for that. I wanted to show that Sasuke and Gaara do care for Naruto and Sakura and show it in their own twisted way. Hope you guys liked it. It was hard for me to write all this, I can picture it all in my head, but its so much harder to write. Reviews please! I love reviews! Even if they are short! And a special thanks to cloudydayz, Kurai88, queen46, XxAnonymous1xX, chibismiles5266, I like angst, and sweet song, and to everyone else who has read my fic and reviewed! 


	7. Caught in the act

REMORSE IS FOR THE DEAD

CHAPTER 7: CAUGHT IN THE ACT

I don't own Naruto.

When someone witnesses a hit you have pulled, the only choice you have is to kill them. If they get away they will call the police and so on and so forth. Under no circumstances must the witness live. You may not like it, but it has to be done. Its either you or them. Every other time this would be an obvious thing, but sometimes things change, and change is never, ever good.

* * *

"Did you read the fucking paper, Naruto?" Kiba asked.

"No. If you haven't noticed I'm stuck in a goddamn hospital bed. Can't really get up to read the paper now can I?" Naruto said in an annoyed tone.

"Well, here," Kiba said as he handed Naruto the paper, "Read the front page."

Naruto used his good arm change the pages and read the headlines which said 'Skinhead Gang Massacre'. Naruto's eyes widened in shock.

"Some guys went into the place and killed them all." Neji calmly said.

"Then they burned the place down. Someone wasn't happy with them." Shikamaru said.

"Did they find out who did it?" Naruto asked.

The three young men shook their heads, "Nope, there was no trace of who did it. They were pissed off for sure though." Kiba said.

"Were they the same guys that mugged Sakura and I?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru shrugged lazily, "Don't know. They probably are. Its about nine to ten blocks away from where you and Sakura were."

Naruto read some more of the article. A thought popped into his head.

"Did anyone see where Sasuke went last night?" Naruto asked.

The three boys shook their heads, "I think he went home after he talked with you." Neji explained.

"Really? That's good. He was acting kinda…weird last night." Naruto said.

Neji furrowed his brow, "How was he acting weird?"

"He was asking me about what happened, and if I remembered what the guys looked like. It felt like he was interrogating me. Sakura even said he asked her for the license plate of my car." Naruto explained.

Neji and Shikamaru looked at each other, each held a face of concern, "Did he say why he wanted this information?" Shikamaru asked, his curiosity peaked.

"Not really, he just said he wanted the cops to get them and made sure I told them everything." Naruto answered.

"Sounds like he's concerned. I don't see how that's weird." Kiba said.

The two geniuses exchanged looks once more. Shikamaru shrugged it off, to lazy to think about it. Neji on the other hand couldn't let it go. He had a strange feeling about it.

"Don't worry about it. I highly doubt that Sasuke is capable of going on a shooting rampage against some skinheads. And by the way you said he went home." Naruto said.

Neji did think that it was highly unlikely as well, but he still couldn't shake off the weird feeling he had. He then said, "I guess you're right. It's probably just coincidence."

"Not to change the subject or anything, but how are you feeling, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto gave a sigh, "Ok, I guess. My arm and chest still hurt. They said that my ribs will heal the fastest but my arm will take a little longer. I'll be able to leave the hospital tomorrow."

"That's good. How would you like to go to Ichiraku's when you get out?" Kiba asked with a grin.

Naruto's face lit up, "I'd love it! Would you guys take me?"

"That's why I asked." Kiba said.

"Hell yeah! I want a huge bowl of some pork ramen! God, that sounds so good right now." Naruto said.

"Well, you just gotta wait one more day. Iruka gave us some cash to take you out tomorrow. He would've taken you but he has to work." Shikamaru explained.

Naruto nodded, then gave a big smile, "Thanks guys. I appreciate it."

* * *

"Did you read about those skinheads getting shot up?" Itachi asked his brother.

"Yeah. Some crazy shit, huh?" Sasuke casually said.

"Do have any idea who may have done it?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke shook his head and lied, "No. Why, do you feel sorry for them?"

"Do you think I would actually care if some skinheads got killed? I was just thinking maybe we should hire whoever killed them." Itachi said with a slight chuckle.

"Why did you want to talk to me, Itachi? You want me to do a hit?" Sasuke asked, his voice sounding slightly annoyed.

Itachi lifted a brow, "Someone's grumpy. What if I just wanted to have a brotherly chat with you?"

"You've never had a brotherly chat with me. Even when we were little you never did. So I 'm going to assume you want a hit." Sasuke explained.

"You're smart, I'll give you that. Yes, we do want a hit. A guy named Ukon. He lives kinda close to where you live." Itachi explained as he handed Sasuke the file on him.

Sasuke skimmed through it quickly then said, "After this hit I'm taking a break."

Itachi looked at Sasuke, a look of bewilderment across his face, "A _break_? What do you mean a break?"

"A break from killing people. You know, a vacation." Sasuke said.

"A vacation from killing people?" Itachi said with a strange look on his face.

"Yes. I've never taken a break from my job and I need one. So, if you want anymore hits after this one, call Gaara or someone else."

Itachi stared at his brother for a moment then said, "What's wrong with you? Are you sick or something?"

"No."

"You haven't been abusing the drugs I gave you?" Itachi asked.

"No! I'm fucking fine!" Sasuke lied, "I just want a break. Am I not entitled to a break from my job?"

"Yes, yes, you can take a break. I just find it quite weird. After all these years, why take a break now?" Itachi asked.

"Why do you care?" Sasuke retorted.

"Why is it every time I'm concerned for you, you get all fucking hostile?"

"Because I know you don't really care. So don't start to pretend like you do." Sasuke said irritably.

"You better you watch that attitude, Sasuke or I'll-"

Sasuke quickly pulled out his forty-five and put it up against Itachi's face, "Or you'll what, huh? What we're you going to say? Don't fucking threaten me, Itachi, I am not in the mood. If I want to take a break then I expect you and your fucking organization to respect that. I expect the same from all my other employers. If your boss doesn't like it, tough. And if he wants to start some shit, just remind him that I'm a much better killer then he is." Sasuke said, his voice low and threatening.

Itachi remained calm the entire time, his face passive, "Sasuke, calm down."

"I _am_ calm."

"If you're so calm, why do you have a gun in my face?" Itachi calmly asked.

"I've been under a lot of stress lately, ok? I want a break. I _need_ a break." Sasuke said as he holstered his gun. There was a slight sound of desperation in his voice.

Itachi looked at his brother, concern on his face. Sasuke didn't look to well. His face was paler than usual, and he had dark bags under his eyes, "Despite what you think, Sasuke, I do care about you. If you want to take a break, fine. Go for it. You do this hit and I won't bother you until you tell me you're ready, ok?"

Sasuke nodded, then said, "Ok, I'll take care of this guy, then I'm done for a while," Sasuke began to exit his brothers car, then stopped, "I'm sorry about the gun thing. Like I said, I've been stressed lately."

"Don't worry about it. Take it easy, ok?" Itachi said.

Sasuke just nodded then headed home with the files of his next hit.

* * *

A few days later, Naruto was up and about. He got out of the hospital four days ago and yet he was healing faster then what the doctors predicted. Some of them joked and said he had some supernatural healing powers. Despite his 'healing powers' he was still given some painkillers. His arm was still in a sling, and his chest was still healing, but that didn't keep him from going to work. He had to take more breaks then usual though. Kakashi understood and was sympathetic towards Naruto.

When staying at home, Sakura would occasionally check on him and ask how he was doing. He told her she didn't need to, but she insisted on helping him. Sasuke would come over a bit as well with ramen he bought from Ichiraku's. Things seemed to be getting better for Naruto. He never knew that his life would change dramatically in the next few hours of his life.

* * *

"How much is that again?" Naruto asked the clerk at the mini-mart.

"Fifteen dollars, sir." The clerk politely repeated.

Naruto handed the man his money then took his small bag of groceries and headed home. To save gas, Naruto would occasionally walk to the mini-mart. He liked the place because it was open twenty-four hours a day. He would sometimes go to the mart at ungodly hours to get some ramen. It was only four blocks away so he didn't mind the short walk. Although with his injuries, Naruto found some difficulty. His chest would hurt a bit, which slowed him down, but he didn't let it bother him.

It was eleven-forty-five at night and Naruto had a craving for some ramen. He was all out, so he decieded to grab some instant ramen at the mart. As he was passing one of the many apartment complexes, he heard what sounded like shouting. At first he paid no attention to it, until he heard a gunshot. A person came running out of the closest building, and headed for the middle of the street. The streetlights illuminated the fleeing man, and Naruto noticed he was covered in blood. Naruto was going to go and help the injured man, until he heard some more footsteps coming from inside the building. He turned to see a dark figure stepping out of the complex. The figure had a gun aimed at the wounded man.

"Someone help me!!" The injured man shouted.

He was quickly silenced when the figure holding the gun fired two rounds into his body. Naruto felt a sudden panic. He didn't know what to do. He quickly hid behind some trashcans and made sure he wasn't breathing to loudly. For some reason, his chest was hurting more then usual.

The murderer checked the body. As he walked into the dull glow from the streetlights, Naruto saw the attackers face. His eyes widened in shock and horror when he saw the face of Sasuke. He felt sick. He watched as Sasuke was picking up the bullet casings from his gun, then he began to walk casually towards his car. Naruto took this chance to run down an alleyway as fast as he could. His chest burned with an incredible pain, but that didn't stop him. Naruto didn't realize he left his grocery bag back at the scene, and he never noticed the pair of obsidian colored eyes watching him as he ran for his life.

Authors note: MWHAHAHAHA!!!! Hope you guys liked this chapter. Its shorter then my last chapter, but the next one will be longer. My last chapter didn't get many reviews, so I am hoping this one will. Tell me what you guys think, it really helps me out.


	8. The Car Ride

REMORSE IS FOR THE DEAD

CHAPTER 8: THE CAR RIDE

I don't own Naruto

Some times life throws things at us that we don't see coming. I've been told that you either deal with it and adjust, or you let it destroy you. I say fuck that, throw that shit back at life and come up with your own solution. As for finding a solution with dealing with Naruto….I still haven't thought of anything.

* * *

Naruto was slowly running back to his apartment. His chest was starting to hurt, and on top of that he felt like throwing up. It took him longer then usual to reach his place. He felt like he was moving in slow motion. Once he reached his apartment he noticed that his door was unlocked, he didn't pay to much attention to that as he quickly shut the door and locked it. He stood there for a moment, trying to catch his breath. Thousands of thoughts were going through his head. He was so preoccupied with them that he never noticed Sasuke sitting at his dinner table watching him the entire time.

"What took you so long?" Sasuke calmly asked.

Naruto's breath hitched and looked up to see Sasuke calmly watching him. He felt a horror sweep over him. Naruto then thought of lying.

"I, uh, I went to grab some ramen at the m-mini-mart." He nervously replied.

Sasuke's emotionless face stayed the same, "Really? Then where's your ramen?"

Naruto panicked and realized that he left his groceries where Sasuke killed the man.

"Looking for this?" Sasuke said as he held up the grocery bag full of ramen.

Naruto began to sweat profusely, "How the fuck did you get here so fast?"

"I have a car, Naruto. What would be a one minute drive for me, was a seven minute slow run for you. I put the body in the car, which took about a minute and a half, then had the rest of the time to get here and get inside," Sasuke explained, "I also know how to pick locks." He then pulled out a handgun with a silencer attached to it. Naruto thought he was going to pass out.

"_He's going to kill me." _Naruto thought to himself.

"Sit down." Sasuke instructed.

Naruto reluctantly did as he was told then said, "S-Sasuke, please don't kill me. I-I swear to god, I won't tell anybody. You have my w-"

Sasuke held a hand up, motioning for Naruto to be quiet. Sasuke sighed and for a moment, he was in deep thought. Naruto couldn't tell what was going through his head. He just hoped he wouldn't kill him.

"You really fucked things up for me, you know that?" Sasuke said, his voice sounded tired and irritable, "You ran into me at a strange time in my life. Any other time, I would have killed you without question, and you'd be in the back of my trunk."

Naruto gulped at this declaration, "S-so why h-haven't you?"  
Sasuke pondered that question for a moment. Was it because he considered Naruto a friend? He cared for him? He wasn't fully sure. He _did_ go out and murder a gang of Neo-Nazi's for Naruto, so he couldn't just kill him now could he? Sasuke finally spoke up answering Naruto's question, "I don't know. I'm still trying to figure that out."

Naruto thought about that statement. Maybe Sasuke wasn't going to kill him. After a moment of silence between the two, Sasuke stood up and grabbed his gun. He had it trained on Naruto. That's when Sasuke said something that horrified the young blonde.

"We're going for a car ride, Naruto."

* * *

The car ride, for the most part, was a quiet one. Neither of them spoke for a long time. Naruto didn't mind though. He needed some quiet time to think, as did Sasuke. Naruto's thoughts were that of sadness and anxiety. He knew that Sasuke was going to kill him and bury him out in the woods with his other victim. He just wished he could've done more with his life. He wanted to leave his job at the music store and start his own ramen shop, where he could make all sorts of exotic ramen flavors. He wanted a family. He also wanted to say goodbye to Iruka and Sakura. Just the thought of the two worrying about him and wondering what happened to him, brought tears to Naruto's eyes.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was having an ongoing mental battle as to what to do with Naruto. One part of his mind told him to just execute Naruto out in the woods and bury him with Ukon. Another part of his mind, which sounded a lot like Haku, was telling him to spare Naruto's life, for he was an innocent person. He glanced over at Naruto who was looking out the window. Sasuke felt a gnawing in his stomach. He hated the situation he was put in. He was thinking of ways he could spare Naruto's life. He could scare Naruto into not telling anybody. He thought that might work, but there was always that chance that he might crack under pressure.

As Sasuke was coming up with a solution, he noticed that they were a mile away from the hole he had already dug. Sasuke took a small dirt road into the woods and continued to drive, until he seemed satisfied. He pulled the car over and brought it to a stop. He gave a sigh then said, "Well, we're here. Get out of the car."

Naruto hesitated for a moment, then quietly did as he was told. Sasuke unlocked the trunk and opened it to reveal the dead body Ukon. Naruto turned his head, not able to look at the body.

"Ok, grab his legs." Sasuke ordered.

Naruto's eyes widened and he quickly faced Sasuke, "What?"

"You heard me. Grab his legs. We're going to put his body in that hole over there." Sasuke explained.

Naruto turned his head to see the hole Sasuke was talking about. He felt sick.

"I-I can't. I can't do it." Naruto nervously replied.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Don't be a baby. Grab his fucking legs."

"How? My arm is in a god damn sling." Naruto replied with a hint of anger in his voice.

Sasuke grunted in disapproval, then grabbed the body by its arms and dragged it to the hole and dumped it. He then went back to the car and grabbed some lime, as well as a shovel. He dumped the lime over the body, but placed the shovel on the ground and pulled out his gun. Naruto backed away from Sasuke, knowing what was going to happen next. Sasuke was going to shoot him. Tears began to flow down Naruto's face.

"Sasuke, please don't kill me. I know you're not a bad person. Look in your heart. Please, don't do it Sasuke." Naruto begged.

Sasuke lifted up his gun and aimed it Naruto.

"I know you're a good person at heart. Please don't do this, Sasuke, please!" Naruto pleaded.

Sasuke's hand was shaking slightly. Naruto's teary blue eyes reminded him of Haku for some reason. Naruto was sitting on the ground sobbing, "I wanted to say goodbye to Iruka and Sakura! I had so many things I wanted to do with my life!" He cried.

Sasuke felt pity for the weeping blonde, he was so pathetic sitting there. He never had a victim do this. Usually they would put up a fight, but not Naruto. He was just so helpless. Sasuke's finger was placed on the trigger. His hand trembling even more then it was before. He had to make a decision . He then began to slowly squeeze the trigger. And then a gunshot rang out through the woods.

* * *

Authors note: DUN DUN DUN!! Is Naruto dead? Is Sasuke really that heartless? Find out on the next chapter! I know, I'm evil. Sorry this chapter is shorter then usual, and I said this chapter was going to be longer, and it is kinda. I was going to make this even longer, but decided to break it up and make it more suspenseful. Hope I achieved that. Anyways, thanks for all the reviews! Keep em' coming and I'll keep putting out the chapters! 


	9. Eyes of a Criminal

REMORSE IS FOR THE DEAD

CHAPTER 9: EYES OF A CRIMINAL

I admit, I've made some stupid decisions in my life, everyone has. But this decision will be the death of me. I have that nagging feeling in the back of my head that it's going to bite me in the ass later down the road.

* * *

Naruto was curled in a ball, covering his ears and in shock from the noise of the gunshot. His ears were ringing. Naruto could have sworn Sasuke had a silencer on it, he must of taken it off, he thought. Then he realized something. He was still breathing and not in pain. He slowly opened his eyes to find Sasuke sitting on the ground, his hands covering his face and his gun on the ground next to him. To Naruto, it looked as if he was crying, but he could tell he wasn't. Sasuke was thinking, and he was thinking hard. Naruto did a quick pat down to fully make sure he wasn't shot. He gave a sigh of relief realizing he wasn't shot. He wiped the tears from his face, and noticed how much his body was shaking. He figured he was probably in a state of shock. 

Sasuke was also in a state of shock. He just spared Naruto's life, knowing that it is in his best interest to kill him. He moved his hands away from his face to see a wide-eyed Naruto, still stunned that he's alive.

Naruto felt his stomach churn. He leaned over and gagged a few times until he felt the stinging sensation of vomit exit out his mouth. He threw up a fair amount before he finally stopped. Sasuke just sat there, still unsure of what to do. He needed more time to think. Things were happening so fast it was making his head spin. He needed to drive some more and clear his head. He also needed to have a little talk with Naruto and fill him in on how much shit they're both in.

Sasuke grabbed his gun and holstered it, then stood up. He walked over to Naruto who was still spitting out the last remains of his puke. Sasuke waited until Naruto stopped then said, "Get up. We're going for another drive."

* * *

Sasuke was concentrating on his driving as well as ideas of what to do with Naruto. He was suddenly jerked out of his thoughts when Naruto spoke up. 

"S-so, what's going to happen now?" He nervously asked.

"You're going to shut the fuck up so I can think." He growled.

Naruto's face had one of hurt then anger. He felt a sudden burst of courage, "I'm not going to shut the fuck up you bastard! You were going to kill me, and now you want me to shut up about it? I really thought I was going to die!" Naruto's voice cracked a bit.

"Naruto, don't push me. You aren't supposed to be alive right now. You saw me kill a man. You're a liability," Sasuke paused for a moment, then said, "And why the fuck were you buying ramen that late?"

"Sorry, if I was hungry! I have a right to go out and buy ramen whenever the hell I want to, god damnit! The real question is, why the _fuck_ did you kill that man?" Naruto shouted back.

"Because that's how I make my living." Sasuke answered as if it were the most obvious fact on the planet.

Naruto gave Sasuke a weird look, "So, are you some sort psychopathic serial killer?"

"No, serial killers kill people for no reason, they kill people because they enjoy it. I just kill people for money." Sasuke explained.

"Oh, and that makes it all better. What are you, some sort of hitman?!"

Sasuke nodded, "Yes, and you are the first innocent person I have spared who has witnessed me kill someone. Everyone else who has witnessed me make a hit are dead. You should be thankful."

Naruto digested that information carefully, then said, "Who do you do hits for?"

"Anyone who pays the fee I charge."

"How much is this fee?" Naruto asked.

"Two-hundred thousand." Sasuke replied.

Naruto's blue eyes widened, "People aren't worth that much to you, are they?"

"Don't start with that moralizing bullshit. I'm not in the mood. And let me enlighten you with some information. Do you know who the Akatsuki is?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto gave a slight nod, "They're an organized crime group."

"Exactly, and I was hired by them to kill the man I buried today. Now, if they find out that there was a witness and I didn't do anything about it, not only will they come after me, but they will come after you as well. And believe me, it won't be pretty. Do you understand the severity of this entire situation?"

Naruto's face paled as he gave another slight nod, and after hearing all this information, Sasuke was surprised at how well Naruto was taking it.

"I think I'm gonna throw up again." The blonde muttered.

* * *

Sasuke had stopped on top of a hill overlooking the city. Naruto quickly scrambled out and threw up once more. Sasuke got out and casually leaned his back against the hood of the car and stared at glowing city lights. It was peaceful up here, aside from the gagging noises of poor Naruto. His mind then drifted as to what he should do with the blonde. He considered Naruto a friend, something he never really had. The only problem was, did Naruto still like him as a friend. 

Naruto had finally emptied all the contents out his stomach and was dry heaving. One he finished his unpleasant experience, he slowly approached Sasuke. He was still unclear about his fate. He wasn't sure if Sasuke was going to kill him or if he was going to live to see another day. Sasuke slowly turned his head and stared at the blonde. Naruto looked away, he was too fearful to look at his eyes.

"Are you afraid of me?" Sasuke quietly asked.

Naruto wasn't expecting that question, but he gave a slight nod as an answer. Sasuke sighed. As much as he didn't want Naruto to be afraid of him, he couldn't blame him. After all, he almost blew him away and buried him in the forest.

"Why didn't you kill me? What makes me so special?" Naruto finally asked.

"_There's the million dollar question."_ Sasuke thought to himself.

Sasuke shrugged, "I've been thinking about that. That question has been eating away at my mind for the last hour."

"Have you come up with an answer?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke was quiet for a moment then said, "First, let me ask you something. Until tonight, why were you nice to me? Why did you want to be friends with me?"

"I don't know," Naruto thought for a moment, " You seemed lonely when I first met you. You were quiet and a bit standoffish, and now I know why. But before I knew about this I just wanted to be your friend. You didn't seem like you had any friends, and I hate seeing people without friends. It's sad."

There was an awkward silence then, "Do you still want to be my friend?" Sasuke asked, he had a glint of sadness and desperation in his eyes.

Naruto's eyes widened at that question. He didn't know how to answer and he didn't know what to think of Sasuke now. The guy was a killer. He killed people for money. But there was something about the look in Sasuke's eyes.

Sasuke could tell Naruto was struggling with an answer, "You know, up until these last few weeks, I was able to kill people without remorse. Innocent or not, it was as easy as turning on a facet. But until recently, I've been growing a distaste for it. I'm actually starting to feel bad about the things I've done. I consider you a friend, my best friend and my first. I don't want to lose that."

Naruto didn't know how to respond or reply. Sasuke had just told him so much information in one paragraph. He said that he considered him his best friend. Naruto was at a loss for words. Finally Naruto spoke, "Sasuke, I-I still consider you a friend. I just don't like what you do. Why do you kill people for money?"

"Because I'm good at it." He quietly responded, "In the few years of being a contract killer, I'm already able to retire. I have _that_ much money saved."

"Then retire! If you have that much money then retire and enjoy life!" Naruto shouted.

"Its not that easy, Naruto. A hitman can't just quit like that." Sasuke said.

"Why the hell not?"

"I know where all the bodies are buried. If I told all my employers that I quit for good, chances are they would try and have me killed. I know to much." Sasuke explained.

"So you're stuck in the job?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke nodded, " Pretty much. I told all my employers that I'm taking a break. No hits for a while. I'm thinking about retiring, but I need to think of way to do it."

The two were quiet for a moment. Sasuke sighed then said, "We better get back home."

Naruto nodded, "So, whats going to happen with me?"

"You are going to have to promise me not to tell anyone what happened and I mean no one. If you tell other people, you are putting their lives in danger as well, understand?" Sasuke explained with a serious expression.

Naruto nodded once more.

"Good, now lets go."

* * *

"God, I fucking hate stakeouts. Nothing ever happens." Jiraiya complained. 

"Oh, come on. They can't be that bad." Sai said.

"How many have you been on?" Jiraiya asked.

Sai thought for a moment, "Two."

"And did anything happen?"

Sai frowned, "No."

"My point exactly. I've been on over one hundred stakeouts during the twenty years of working for the FBI and out of all of those stakeouts the most exciting thing that happened was a drunk guy came out of his house and pissed on the sidewalk. Stakeouts suck." Jiraiya ranted.

The two agents were in a black Crown Victoria car staking out a particular restaurant owned by the Akatsuki. So far nothing interesting had happened. That was until a car with two young men pulled up at the stoplight near by. Sai noticed the driver and he quickly got Jiraiya's attention.

"Look at the car right there. That driver looks very familiar. Where have I seen him?" Sai said.

"I don't know, maybe you used to date him." Jiraiya said with a chuckle.

"I'm being serious, look!"

Jiraiya looked over at the car, and his eyes widened, "Is that Itachi?"

Sai grabbed some binoculars and got a better view, "No, this guy is younger. But they look almost identical. Does he have a younger brother?"

"Not that I know of."

The light turned green, and the car took off.

"Did you get the license plate number?" Jiraiya asked.

Sai nodded, "We should head back and see what we can get on that guy. I bet he's an Uchiha. He's a spitting image of Itachi."

Jiraiya nodded in agreement, "Lets get out of here."

* * *

"So our dear Sasuke is taking a _break_?" Orochimaru hissed. 

Kabuto gave a slight nod, "Yeah, said that he was entitled to one, and if we wanted a hit, ask Gaara."

Orochimaru thought about that for a moment then said, "Gaara tends to kill more people then we want, causing to much attention. The feds have been on everyone's asses lately. I don't want Gaara killing twenty people when I only ask for two people dead. I will have talk with him. Uchiha's are always difficult."

* * *

Itachi lit a cigarette and inhaled the cancerous smoke deeply into his lungs, delighting in the flavor and feeling of the nicotine. He was in deep thought. His thoughts were soon interrupted when he heard footsteps. 

"Sup, Itachi." Hidan said as he entered and took a seat across from the Uchiha.

"Not much. Just wondering about Sasuke." He said.

Hidan raised an eyebrow, "Because he wanted a break?"

Itachi gave a nod.

"He probably just needs some time to relax. Killing people for a living isn't the most stress-free job, y'know." Hidan explained.

"I know. I have this feeling like something bad is going to happen because of this." Itachi said.

"Like what?"

Itachi shrugged, "I don't know, that's what is bothering me. I want someone to keep an eye on him."

"Who?" Hidan asked.

"You, I trust you and you're good at spying on people." Itachi said.

"Will I get extra pay?" Hidan asked.

"Sure, and if he is doing something he shouldn't be doing, you know what to do." Itachi said.

"You sure? He's your brother, Itachi."

"Thank you for pointing that out. I know he's my brother," Itachi took another puff of his cigarette then said, "Just watch him for a while, if he's compromising us, then take care of him. If not then leave him alone and let him enjoy his break."

Hidan sighed and said, "Whatever you say."

* * *

Authors note: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Work and college have been a bitch. I'm also packing for a vacation. I hope you all liked this chapter. For some reason I'm not satisfied with it. Oh well. Things are starting to look bad for Sasuke and Naruto. What will happen?! Reviews are like crack to me, I need them! 


	10. Confide in no one

REMORSE IS FOR THE DEAD

CHAPTER 10: CONFIDE IN NO ONE

I miss the old days. I miss the days where I was able to kill a person and not think anything of it. I miss the days where I didn't have to rely on drugs to help me sleep. I miss the days when my emotions weren't going bat shit. But it seems those days are long gone.

* * *

As of late, Sasuke was having trouble sleeping. The pills weren't working like they used to, and it frustrated him to no end. He was even taking the pills with alcohol, hoping it would help. It just made him sick. He kept on thinking of different scenarios of what would happen if Naruto got to antsy and told some people that he was hitman. None of them ended happily.

Naruto was also having trouble sleeping. He kept on twisting and turning in bed, trying to get comfortable, but it was to no avail. So, Naruto did what he thought was most logical. He grabbed a bottle of Nyquil and took a large swig of it. Thirty minutes later, he was sleeping like a baby.

Sasuke on the other hand was having a serious case of insomnia. He finally got up and exited his apartment and began to knock on Naruto's door. He waited for a second or two then knocked once more. Sasuke began to worry.

_"What if he ran off and told someone? Or what if he killed himself? Or what if……?_" He thought of all the different 'What ifs' and finally he decided to pick the lock and check in on the blonde.

As he slowly and quietly snuck into the blonde's apartment, he heard some very loud snoring. He silently walked to Naruto's bedroom to find the blonde sprawled out on the bed in a disorderly fashion.

_"Good, he's not dead."_ Sasuke thought.

He was about to walk out when he heard Naruto stir a bit in his bed. He turned to see Naruto sitting up in his bed looking at the Uchiha.

"Sa-Sasuke? What the hell are you doing in here?" Naruto mumbled.

For a moment, Sasuke was at a loss for words. He finally said, "I, uh, I was checking up on you. I thought I heard something, and it was just you snoring. Go back to sleep."

"Ok." Naruto laid back down and his ridiculously loud snoring resumed.

Sasuke sighed in relief and quickly exited the apartment and went back to his.

_"Maybe I'm worried over nothing."_ Sasuke thought.

* * *

Sasuke awoke to his cell phone ringing. He lazily grabbed it and looked at the number. He frowned then answered.

"Hello." He tiredly said.

"Sasuke, how are you? Enjoying your little break?" Came the slimy voice of Orochimaru.

"I was. What do you want?" Sasuke asked in a grumpy manner.

"I just thought it would be nice if we could talk over lunch. Just the two of us." He replied.

"I'm not taking any jobs for a while. I am pretty sure Kabuto informed you about that." Sasuke said.

"This isn't a business meeting Sasuke. I just want to have a man-to-man chat with my favorite hitman. See how things are." Orochimaru said in a strangely friendly voice.

Sasuke sighed, "Since when do like having man to man chats with me?"

There was a brief pause, "Uchiha, don't waste my fucking time. You _will_ meet me at the usual restaurant by twelve-thirty today. You have four hours, don't be late." He finished and hung up.

Sasuke calmly looked at his cell phone and then closed it.

* * *

Naruto was staring aimlessly at the cash register at his work. There had only been two customers so far, and his mind was wondering about his future. He wasn't sure what the future had in store for him. He knew Sasuke's secret. He knew of a murder that was ordered by the Akatsuki. He kept wondering if he would be able to live to see another day or if he would be killed before he would reach his apartment. The normal cheerfulness and hyperactivity the blonde usually showed was gone.

"Yo, Naruto. Earth to Naruto." Kankuro was waving his hand in front of the blonde.

"Huh, what?" Naruto mumbled, finally exiting his trance.

"What's with you? You've been spacing all morning. That's not like you." Kankuro said showing concern.

Naruto quickly thought of an excuse, "I'm just tired. The last two nights have been rough. My arm was hurting." Naruto said motioning to his arm in the sling.

Kankuro nodded, "You should ask Kakashi to give you some more time off and let that arm fully heal."

"I'll think about it." Naruto quietly said.

* * *

When Sasuke entered the restaurant he saw Orochimaru seated at his usual table. There were two bodyguards sitting at the table next to his. He calmly walked over to the snake like man. Orochimaru looked up from his menu and gave a fake smile to Sasuke.

"So glad that you could join me. Please, sit." He motioned for Sasuke to sit across from him.

"So, what is so urgent that you just couldn't wait to tell me?" Sasuke asked.

Orochimaru grinned, "This is just a friendly chat. Why would you think otherwise."

"Cut the crap. What do you want?"

"My, my, someone is grumpy." The snake like man replied.

"I had a rough night. You do realize I'm on vacation. I only came because you pay well." Sasuke explained.

"About that _vacation_ of yours. How long is it going to last?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Don't know. Until I feel like working again. Why do you care?"

"Well, I need some business taken care of."

Sasuke sighed, "I told you, Kabuto, the Akatsuki, and everyone else that I work for, that I am not doing hits right now. Why the fuck is that such a big deal? If you guys need a hit ask Gaara or some other hitman out there, not me."

"Gaara is to unstable. I want someone I can trust."

"I kill people for a living, how stable is that?" Sasuke replies.

"Ok, enough with the bullshit. I want you to do a hit. I will make it worth your while. I will triple the normal price you ask." Orochimaru said.

Sasuke shook his head, "Do you not understand English? I said no."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, "Watch your tone, Uchiha. You will take this hit. I wouldn't want my two men to hurt my best hitman." As he finished his two bodyguards looked over and gave Sasuke the evil eye.

Sasuke briefly looked at them then back at Orochimaru, "I don't mean to be rude, since you are a well paying client but, if your bodyguards touch me I will kill them, then I'll kill you and everyone else in this restaurant to make sure there are no witnesses." Sasuke threatened.

Orochimaru knew Sasuke was capable of doing that and motioned for his bodyguards to stay put. He then pulled out a file and handed it to the young hitman, "Just look at the file. Read it over and then decide. I want to hear your decision tomorrow."

Sasuke grabbed the file and quickly walked out. He didn't want to deal with him anymore.

"Have a nice day!" Orochimaru called out to Sasuke.

Sasuke gave him the middle finger then exited.

* * *

"So, did you find anything on that license plate yet?" Jiraiya asked.

"You're not going to believe this, but his name is Sasuke Uchiha. He apparently works as a computer programmer under a different name. Should we give him a visit?" Sai asked.

"Did you even need to ask." Jiraiya said with a smirk.

* * *

"He really hasn't up to much, Itachi. I've watched him for two days and nothing really spectacular has happened." Hidan stated in a bored tone while on his cell phone.

"That's fine. I just want him under surveillance for a while. Keep it up and inform if anything new comes up." Itachi said as he hung up.

"But wait! God damnit." Hidan muttered.

* * *

Sasuke was calmly cleaning his wide array of weaponry. Making sure he was cleaning all the gunk out of the barrel and adding some gun grease so they would not rust, when he heard a knock on the door.

"It's me, Naruto." Came a voice.

Sasuke went to check the peek hole and saw that it was the blonde. He opened the door and let him in.

"What's up?" Sasuke said casually, as he went back to cleaning his guns.

Naruto was just staring at all the weapons; he couldn't believe all the guns Sasuke had. He then looked over at file that was lying on the kitchen table. Finally he said, "What's that?" Naruto pointed to the file.

Sasuke briefly looked at it then said, "Its my next hit that has been asked of me."

Naruto looked shocked, "I thought you said you weren't taking anymore hits!"

"Keep your voice down. And I'm not taking any more hits. One of my clients was very adamant about me taking this one even though I said no. So I just took it so he would shut up. It doesn't mean I am actually going to take the hit." Sasuke explained.

Naruto looked somewhat relieved, but then said, "Have you looked at it to see who it is?"

Sasuke shook his head. Naruto looked back at the file then walked towards it, "Can I read it?"

"No!" Sasuke shouted.

Naruto jumped a bit at Sasuke's outburst. Sasuke quickly got up and snatched the file off the counter.

"Are you going to read it?" Naruto asked. He was curious to see if he knew the person. Maybe he could go warn them ahead of time.

"Later." Sasuke muttered as he finished cleaning a revolver he had. "Why are you here, Naruto?"

Naruto thought for a second then said, "What made you want to take a break from killing people?" Naruto asked out of the blue.

Sasuke was stunned for a moment. He stopped what he was doing then looked up at Naruto.

"Did you kill someone that just made you feel bad? There has to be a reason why you've been growing a distaste for it." Naruto said.

Sasuke sighed, and said, "About a month ago there was a shooting. A guy named Zabuza and his bodyguards were all killed along with his lover. A young man named Haku."

Naruto's eyes widened in realization, "T-that was you? You killed them? I remember when that was all over the news." Naruto gave a disbelieving chuckle then said, "Wow, they've been looking for the killer and here he is. Why did you kill them?"

"I was paid to. Well, I was paid to kill Zabuza not Haku. H-he just walked in at the wrong time. I couldn't have any witnesses. When I shot him, he told me that he forgave me." Sasuke looked very hurt and upset as he continued, "The majority of the people I kill are scum. Just as bad as the guys that higher me to kill, but Haku, he was different. He was just an innocent guy who had no idea of what was going on. I still think about him. I-I wish I didn't kill him."

Naruto didn't know what to say. How would one go comforting a hitman? He wanted to feel sorry for Sasuke, but at the same time, he has killed copious amounts of people. He even watched him kill a man with his own two eyes. Naruto gulped then said, "Is he the reason why you want to quit?"

Sasuke thought about that for a moment, then nodded. He truly was the reason why he wanted to quit. It was making him feel guilty. Guilty for killing a person who wasn't a criminal or some underworld scum. He was just an innocent person.

Sasuke reached for the file that was supposed to be his next hit. He was thinking that maybe he should just burn it and tell Orochimaru that he can go to hell. But instead he quietly opened it. His onyx colored eyes went wide when he saw the picture of his next target. Then he shut it quickly.

Naruto gave Sasuke a look of concern. He watched as his faced paled when he read the file. Sasuke looked up at Naruto then handed him the file.

"I think you should take a look at this." Sasuke said.

Naruto slowly opened it and was horrified to see a picture of Iruka walking casually down the street.

"Wh-what the hell is this?!" Naruto shouted.

"That's apparently my next target. Does Iruka deal drugs or do illegal gambling? Anything of that nature?" Sasuke asked, his voice held frustration.

"No! He's a fucking teacher! Why would anyone want him killed?" Naruto asked, he could feel tears threatening to fall.

"I don't fucking know, Naruto! Just let me think!" Sasuke shouted.

The Uchiha was pacing the room thinking of what to do. If he didn't take the hit, Orochimaru would cave in and hire someone else. He decided he would give the snake like man a call and ask why he wanted the hit. He had to play it cool though. He had an idea.

Sasuke quickly grabbed his cell phone and dialed Orochimaru's number. The phone rang for a moment then suddenly, "Sasuke, my boy. How are you?" Came an exaggerated cheerful voice.

"Orochimaru, I was looking at the file you gave me."

"And?"

"I've decided to take the hit, but I want to know why I'm going to be killing a teacher?" Sasuke asked.

There was a brief pause then, "Why does that matter to you?"

"Because its one thing killing drug dealers that have pissed you off or killing your employees, but killing some random teacher is going to raise un-wanted news attention, and I don't want to have to deal with that shit." Sasuke explained.

"Point taken. He has been upsetting a man I do business with. He refuses to let his son pass some college course because he's failing. Because of that his son won't be graduating. We have sent him messages, and even offered him good sums of money but he always declines, saying he should have studied instead of partied. So, instead of wasting time and money on him I thought we could just kill him." Orochimaru said in an uncaring tone.

Sasuke gave a worried look towards Naruto. Naruto was looking at Sasuke mouthing 'what's he saying'. Sasuke motioned for him to stop then said, "Very well. I will hold you to the fact that you said you would triple my pay for this hit."

"Of course. I take care of my people." Orochimaru hissed.

"I'm not one of your people." Sasuke said as he hung up.

"Well? What the hell is going on?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke sat down on his couch and gave out a tired sigh, "Iruka is failing some businessman's kid."

Naruto waited for Sasuke to say more, but Sasuke didn't say anything else, "That's it? They want him dead because he's failing some kid?!"

"The kid is probably some spoiled kid who always gets what he wants. Apparently he didn't take Iruka's class seriously and is failing." Sasuke explained.

Naruto was speechless, they wanted his foster father dead because he wouldn't pass a kid who didn't deserve it. The man who pretty much raised him, and loved him like his own son is wanted dead by some businessman, "W-we gotta tell him!"

"Calm down, Naruto." Sasuke said as he leaned his head back on the couch.

"Calm down?! They want Iruka dead! He did nothing wrong! We have to warn him!"

"Warn him of what, Naruto? I told Orochimaru I would take the hit, so that means no one is going to be going after him except for me." Sasuke explained in a lethargic manner.

"Y-you're going to kill him?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke rubbed his temples, "Did you not hear a fucking word I said to you? I told him I would take the hit so no one would go after him. I'm not going to kill him, Naruto, Jesus, why don't you fucking listen."

"No need to get snippy." Naruto pouted.

* * *

"Is this the place?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yup. I believe his apartment is on the second floor." Sai said.

"Do you think he might have any info on his brother?" The older agent asked.

"Not sure, they might not even be related." Sai said.

"Oh bullshit. They looked almost identical." Jiraiya said as he exited out of the car.

Sai followed suite and the two began to walk towards the apartment complex. Little did they know, they were under the scrutiny of the Akatsuki.

* * *

Hidan was on full alert as he saw two FBI agents pull up. He recognized them. The older one was always on their case. He wondered what they were doing here. He began to worry as he watched them enter the apartment complex. The only person he knew they could want would be Sasuke. He quickly grabbed his cell phone and made a call that would set off a chain of destructive events.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke were debating about what to do when suddenly there was a knock on the door. The two froze and Sasuke quickly gathered his arsenal and stuffed them in his closet. He quickly grabbed his forty-five.

"Naruto, check who it is." Sasuke whispered.

"What? Why me?" Naruto whined.

"Just do it." Sasuke commanded.

Another knock came along with a voice saying, "Sasuke Uchiha, we would like to have a moment of your time."

Naruto looked through the peephole and saw two men dressed in nice black suits.

"Get the door." Sasuke said as he fled to his room.

"What?!" Naruto cried out.

"I have an idea, now answer the fucking door." Sasuke demanded as he closed his bedroom door.

Naruto took in a deep breath as he slowly opened the door. He was greeted with an FBI badge shoved in his face. He paled as he saw the badges. The two agents had a look of confusion on their faces as they saw a blonde haired, blue eyed young man looking right back at them.

"Uh, is this the residence of Sasuke Uchiha?" Asked the younger agent.

"Y-yes. Can I ask what's going on?"

"We just wanted to have a chat with him. Can we come in?" The gray haired agent asked.

Naruto debated whether or not to let them, but decided to let them in. The two agents calmly walked in and eyed the place.

"Is Mr. Uchiha in?" The young agent asked.

"Yes, he's, uh, he's in his bedroom." Naruto stated, "Have a seat while I go get him."

The agents obliged and sat on the couch. Naruto was about to walk into the bedroom when Sasuke burst out of the bedroom wearing only a towel around his waist. His hair was wet. Naruto was surprised to say the least.

"S-Sasuke, you have guest." Naruto said in a shocked tone.

"Oh, so we do. Thanks for getting the door sweety." Sasuke said in a very fruity voice. He walked up and gave Naruto a kiss on his cheek. Naruto in turn blushed like mad, but caught on to what Sasuke was doing.

"Y-your welcome, baby." Naruto said without any conviction in his voice.

"Sorry that I couldn't get the door, you two. Would like some coffee or tea?" He asked with a big smile. The two agents looked very uncomfortable.

"I'm good, thanks." The young agent said.

"Same here." The gray haired agent said.

"Ok then. So, what did you gentlemen want to talk about?" Sasuke asked cheerfully as he sat down. The two agents could almost get a clear view of his 'goods' under the towel. They both quickly looked at Sasuke's face, "Oh, sorry about the towel, I just got out of the shower."

The gray haired agent cleared his throat, then said, "No problem, sorry for bothering you but we just wanted to talk to you for a moment. I am Senior FBI agent Jiraiya and this is agent Sai. We've been working on cases against the Akatsuki. Do you know who they are?"

Sasuke gave a brief nod, "They are that crazy group of gang members right?"

"Kinda, they are an organized crime group. One major member of the group is named Itachi Uchiha. Are you related to him by any chance?" Jiraiya asked, keeping a close eye on Sasuke's reaction.

"Itachi? Yes, he's my older brother, but I haven't talked to him since I graduated high school." He lied.

Naruto cautiously sat next to Sasuke but kept his distance. He was surprised once more when Sasuke put an arm around him and held him closer, "No need to be shy, Naruto, sweety."

To say that Naruto felt awkward was an understatement. He was a straight man, and he was pretty sure that Sasuke was too, but even if he was acting, Naruto had to admit he was good at it. The two agents shifted uncomfortably.

"So you haven't heard from him in quite some time, is that correct?" Sai asked.

"Yes. Once he found out I was gay he didn't want anything to do with me." Sasuke said acting sad.

"Well, sorry to hear that. But if he does contact you don't hesitate to give us a call." Jiraiya said as he handed Sasuke a card, "That's my number so give me a ring if you hear anything."

"Will do sir. It was nice meeting you two, especially you." Sasuke winked at Sai.

The two agents quickly left the apartment and as Sasuke shut the door he dropped his fake smile, "Jesus, I thought they would never leave."

Naruto stared at Sasuke with a look of disbelief on his face.

"What?" Sasuke muttered.

"I can't believe you did that. They think I'm gay!" Naruto shouted.

"They think I'm gay too, big fucking deal." Sasuke said nonchalantly as he walked back to his bedroom.

"And how did you shower so fast?!"

"I didn't, I just got my hair wet. I bet this little talk they had didn't quite go the way they hoped." Sasuke said with a slight smirk.

"You realize you kissed me?! Now I'm going to have to sterilize my fucking cheek. They probably saw your cock and balls too!" Naruto ranted.

"Naruto, calm down. Its not a big deal. We have other problems to worry about, like Iruka." Sasuke reminded Naruto.

Naruto shut up instantly then spoke up, "What are we going to do about that?"

Sasuke sighed, then said, "I have an idea, but it's going to be messy."

* * *

"Well, that was a waist of fucking time." Jiraiya whined.

"God that was horrible. I saw his nuts." Sai muttered.

"I can see why Itachi disowned him." Jiraiya said.

"So, back to the drawing board?" Sai asked.

"Yeah." Jiraiya said with a sigh of defeat.

* * *

Hidan quickly put out his cigarette when he saw the two FBI agents walk out of the apartment complex. He picked up his cell phone once more and dialed a number.

"Are they still there?" Came the voice of Itachi.

"They just left the building." Hidan said.

Itachi sighed, then said, "Do what you must. We can't take any chances, especially now. The boss would say the same. And Hidan, make it….painless."

"Will do." Hidan said as he hung up.

* * *

"Alright, first things first. Do not tell Iruka what's going. I can take care of this. Problems like these are only solved through violence. Negotiations aren't going to be accepted at this point. We'll go visit Iruka and make sure he's alright. Lets go to my car." Sasuke explained.

Naruto nodded and followed. Despite how scared he was, he was more afraid for Iruka's life. The poor guy didn't even know he was on someone's hit list. As the two reached the parking structure a car pulled up fairly close to them.

* * *

Hidan followed Sasuke and his blonde haired friend. He didn't know who the blonde was but he didn't care. He watched them exit the apartment complex and make their way towards the parking structure. Their car was on the bottom floor underground. He had an Ingram sub-machine gun locked and loaded, ready for the kill. He came up close to them and rolled down the window.

* * *

Sasuke noticed the car as well. His went wide with horror as the window rolled down and he saw an automatic weapon being pointed at him and Naruto. He quickly pushed the blonde behind another car for cover as the gun opened fire on the two. Sasuke quickly dived behind the car that Naruto was seeking shelter from and quickly withdrew his forty-five from his holster.

The deafening sound of automatic gunfire echoing through the parking structure was all that Naruto could hear. The bullets were tearing through the car, some almost hitting the duo. Finally, Sasuke heard a noise he had wanted to hear. The sound of an empty gun. He quickly stood up and opened fired on the attacking car. The car quickly sped away, trying to keep out of the line of fire. Sasuke then shout out the front left tire of the car causing it to smash right into a wall.

"Stay here, Naruto. Don't you fucking move from this spot." Sasuke said, his voice full of anger. Not towards Naruto though.

As Sasuke walked towards the crashed car he put in a new clip for his gun. The front door opened and coughing could be heard. A man slowly stepped out and stood up. Sasuke, in his anger, aimed his gun and fired three shots in the mans abdomen, causing the man to scream in pain and fall over. Naruto flinched when he saw Sasuke open fire on the man. As Sasuke got closer he got a good look at his attacker and he almost threw up when he saw who it was.

"H-Hidan?! What the fuck is going on?!" Sasuke shouted.

Hidan didn't say anything; he just made gurgling noises as he choked on his own blood. His eyes wide with pain and horror. Sasuke in his frustration grabbed Hidan and put him back in the front seat of the crashed car.

"W-w-what are…….you doing Sasuke." Hidan panted out.

"Getting rid of evidence." Sasuke said as he pointed his gun at Hidans face and shot him.

Sasuke quickly ran to his own car and was searching frantically in the back seat for something. When he found it he quickly ran back to where the crashed car and Hidan's body were. In Sasuke's hands were a small bottle of lighter fluid and some matches. He coated Hidan's body in the lighter fluid and some other parts of the car as well. He lit a match and stood back as Hidan and the car caught fire. On his way toward Naruto, he picked up all the bullet casings that came from his forty-five and put them in his pocket. He ran over to Naruto and quickly shoved him in his car and started the ignition. He drove as fast as he could out of the parking structure and onto the street.

"Fuck! Motherfucker! I can't believe this fucking bullshit!" Sasuke screamed as he hit his steering wheel.

Naruto was still in a state of shock. He was just shot at and once more witnessed Sasuke killing someone.

"I'm going to kill that motherfucker! I can't believe this! Fuck!" Sasuke kept shouting.

"S-S-Sasuke, w-what the h-hell was that?" Naruto stuttered.

Sasuke glared at the blonde briefly then looked back at the road.

"_That_ was an attempted hit on me! By the Akatsuki no less! I work my ass off for them and this is how they repay me?! They are dead, they are so fucking dead!" Sasuke yelled.

"Sasuke." Naruto said.

"What?!"

"I think I'm going to throw up."

* * *

Authors note: What will happen? Will Iruka be ok? Will Sasuke and Naruto be ok? Find out next chapter! Hey everyone! I finally updated! Sorry it took so long. Things have weird lately. I also had a horrible case of writers block. I made this chapter extra long to make up for long update time. Hope you all liked it. I've been promising action so here it is. Or at least _some_ action. I also added in some humor, thus the whole Sasuke acting gay to throw off the FBI dudes. I've been having a lot of yaoi requests for this fic so there was a tad of it for all you yaoi lovers. Hoped you liked it. As for any pairings, I am still divided. I've had many requests for a yaoi pairing, many for a straight pairing and many for no pairings. I don't know if you all would want me to do that because I have never written a pairing based fic before. So if I do it might be really shitty or cheesy. I am still open to ideas. Oh and again reviews caffeine to me, I need them! 


	11. The Subtle Art of Murder

REMORSE IS FOR THE DEAD

CHAPTER 11: THE SUBTLE ART OF MURDER

There are times in life when a simple negotiation won't work, no matter how hard you try. There are times when talking never gets anything done or solved. There are times when the only way to get things done or to fix a mistake is through violence. Violence solves so many problems. Granted its not the most orthodox way to get things done and its usually frowned upon and illegal. But, if violence will get the job done, then violence is the path I must follow once more.

* * *

"Jesus, Naruto. You throw up way to easily." Sasuke said, as he ran a hand through his dark hair.

"I'm not used to being shot at, fuck stick. My nerves are on the fritz and I'm coming off of my adrenaline high." Naruto muttered, he hunched over spitting the last of the bile that reached his mouth.

The two had stopped at a nearby park. Sasuke sat on the hood of his car looking at some children playing on the playground. He wished he could be go back to those days, happy and carefree. He was in deep thought once more. He realized the Akatsuki wanted him dead for some reason, and he had to watch over Iruka. Sasuke was slowly thinking of all the ideas to fix his dilemma. First of all, he had to have Naruto and Iruka some place safe. Second, he had to find out why the Akatsuki wanted him dead. Third…..well, he hadn't got that far. He had some ideas, but they were risky and involved a high body count. Killing Orochimaru and Kabuto crossed his mind on more then a few occasions. But it was the Akatsuki that was at the top of his shit list as of late. He wanted to kill every single one of them. Except Deidara, he wasn't sure if he could do him in.

"_Maybe I'll just wound him a bit…" _He thought.

Sasuke was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Naruto approach him. The Uchiha glanced at the blonde and said, "Feel better?"

"I would if I could stop being shot at and watching people being killed! How do you live like this?!" Naruto shouted.

"It wasn't like this until I decided to take a goddamn break from it," Sasuke muttered., "Usually it was me just killing people rather quietly. Every once in a while, they would shoot back, but that's when it involved more then one person."

Naruto shook his head in disbelief then said, "Killing people and being shot at as a way of life. I can't imagine all the psychological issues you have. You're an Oprah episode waiting to happen."

Sasuke gave off a slight chuckle, "I don't think Oprah would want me anywhere near her if she found out what I did for a living."

"So, what's the plan?" Naruto asked.

"Not sure. I've been doing some thinking. Iruka should be fine. Orochimaru thinks I'm going to kill him, so he won't be sending anybody else to do the job. I usually take about a week before I actually do the hit. That gives me some time to plan. The main issue here is the Akatsuki. Which reminds me, get in the car. I need to make a phone call." Sasuke instructed the blonde.

"Who you callin'?" Naruto asked.

"My brother."

* * *

Itachi was currently smoking a cigarette and awaiting a phone call from Hidan. When the phone rang he frowned to see the number wasn't of his partner, but of his younger brother who was supposed to be dead. He then opened the phone.

"Hello, little brother." Itachi calmly spoke.

There was silence.

"Hello?" Itachi said once more.

"Bet you were expecting Hidan calling you back, telling you about his successful hit." Sasuke said, his voice full of hatred.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Itachi said.

"Yeah, tell me another one that doesn't suck. Just to let you know, Hidan is dead and his corpse is burned inside his car. If you want me dead, you're gonna have to try a lot harder then that."

"Well, I wasn't the moron that talked to the FBI." Itachi shot back.

"What?!" Sasuke shouted.

Itachi took another drag of his cigarette then said, "Hidan has been watching you for the past few days. He's seen you with some blonde haired guy, but that's not important. What is of great fucking importance is he saw two FBI agents walk into your apartment complex. Care to explain?"

"No FBI guys talked to me! They could have talked to someone else in the fucking complex!" Sasuke lied, "You based your hit on that?!"

"Don't lie to me, Sasuke. Hidan saw Jiraiya walk into the complex. Jiraiya has been on my case as well as the entire organizations case since the Akatsuki started. Why else would he go in there? He probably found out we were related and wanted to talk to you. Am I correct?"

There wasn't an answer for a moment, then Sasuke said, "You think I would rat you out like that?"

"Sasuke, when you get into the business we're in, we don't take chances, no matter how much we like a person or even if they are blood related. We can't afford to take chances. Even if the Feds didn't talk to you at all I still would have had to order the hit on you for having them walk into the complex. There is always that chance that you would have talked or they would have talked to you or some other unseen event. You know all the people we have wanted dead, you know where their bodies are. We aren't going to take any chances on that. On top of that, your little talk about taking a break had us worried. Sorry it has to be this way. I thought you of all people would understand. And now Hidan is dead, the boss is going to want retribution for that."

Sasuke was quiet. He gave a slight chuckle then said, "If I'd have known you kill your employers over stupid shit, I probably would've never taken any jobs from you. Guess I'm just gonna have to kill you and all your buddies. Better tell your boss and your friends to arm themselves. You guys are all fucking dead." And with that Sasuke hung up.

Itachi sighed and took a long drag out of his cigarrete and said, "Why does everything have to be so difficult."

* * *

"I'm going drop you off at Iruka's. Have him drive you home. I can't go back to the apartment complex, not yet anyway. They'll be looking for me there. Try hanging out with Kiba or Sakura or whoever. I'll contact you by phone and update you with how things are going. It'd be best if I don't see you for a while." Sasuke explained.

Naruto sighed, wanting to argue, but he knew Sasuke was right. "What if something happens to you? What if they get you before you can take care of the problem with Iruka?"

Sasuke sighed, "I'll give you the file on Iruka and then you turn it into the police," Sasuke then opened the passenger door and opened the glove compartment. He grabbed a small, silver revolver and handed it to Naruto, "Take this. Its loaded so be careful with it."

Naruto looked a little surprised, "I don't know how to use a gun."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "Are you serious?"

"Yes! Why is that so surprising to you? Not everyone is a hitman and kills people you know." Naruto said with a frown.

Sasuke sighed, "It's pretty simple to operate. The pointy end is the dangerous end. You point and pull the trigger. Revolvers are easy to load too."

Naruto took the weapon and looked at it for a moment, "Do you think I'll have to use it?"

"I hope not. Only use it unless you really have to." Sasuke warned, Naruto simply nodded.

There was an awkward silence between the two until Sasuke said, "Lets go to Iruka's."

* * *

"Hey guys! I wasn't expecting to see you two. Come in, come in! You guys want something to drink?" A smiling Iruka asked.

"Nah, Iruka, I'm good." Naruto said.

"No thank you, Iruka." Sasuke politely said.

"You sure?" Iruka asked, and the two younger men just nodded, "Ok. So, what brings you two here?"

"I just wanted to stop by and say hi. I was also wondering if you could give me a ride back to my apartment. Sasuke has to run some errands." Naruto explained.

"Sure, that's fine with me. What time do you want home, Naruto?" Iruka asked.

"Two hours from now. Is that cool?"

"That's fine. No problem. Well, what have you two been up to lately?" Iruka asked.

The two younger ones looked at each other then in unison said, "Stuff."

* * *

With Naruto out of harms way, Sasuke could finally focus on his task at hand. Despite wanting to kill his brother and the Akatsuki he realized that his first and easiest targets would be Orochimaru and Kabuto. They wouldn't suspect Sasuke coming after them. Said hitman was on his way to his secret stash of weapons he had hid in case of emergencies. With some thinking he realized that the Akatsuki wanting him dead was an emergency. But before he reached his stash of weapons he needed to make a phone call. He grabbed his cell phone and went to his contact list and hit the number. He waited as the phone rang.

"Hello?" Came the emotionless voice of Gaara.

"Gaara, its me, Sasuke. I have a favor to ask."

"Oh? And what would that favor be?"

"I need you to watch over Naruto and Iruka for me, over the next few days. I'll give you ten grand for it." Sasuke said.

There was a brief pause until Gaara said, "What's going on? Are they in trouble?"

"Kinda. Orochimaru has placed a hit on Iruka. He thinks I'm taking the hit, but I'm not. I just need to make sure he doesn't send anyone else after them."

"Very well. I'll do this for free." Gaara stated.

"You sure?"

"Yes." Came his curt reply.

"Ok, suite yourself. Try and hangout with Naruto tonight, and don't tell him why you're there. Just make up something." Sasuke said.

"I will." Gaara said as he hung up.

* * *

After Iruka had dropped Naruto off at his apartment, the blonde found himself over at Kiba's playing poker with Shikamaru, Neji, Ino, and Sakura. Hinata just watched. The four boys were drinking rather heavily. Ino and Sakura had a few drinks while Hinata was still on her first.

"HA! Four aces! Beat that bitches!" Kiba shouted in triumph.

"You suck. And how the hell did you get four aces?" Naruto shouted.

"I'm just that good." Kiba said with a grin.

The group gave a groan and threw their cards down.

"Who shuffles the cards next?" Neji asked.

"I do." Sakura said, as she gathered the cards together and began to shuffle them.

After a brief moment of silence a slightly intoxicated Kiba spoke up, "So, I was talking to this chick at work. Hottest girl I've ever seen that has worked at a Best Buy. She had these awesome tits that would make any man _or_ woman want to snuggle with them."

Shikamaru sat up a bit more straight and said, "Really?"

Ino slapped him on the back of his head, "What? Are my tits not good enough for you?"

"Troublesome woman." He muttered under his breath.

"What is it with guys and tits anyway? Their not that special." Sakura said.

"They are special because us guys don't have them, plus their fun to play with." Kiba said with a smirk.

"Oh please, they give me back problems. You have two giant water balloons attached to your front, you won't think they're so great then." Ino said.

"I beg to differ. Tits are awesome." Kiba said.

"How about it Naruto? Are you a tit man?" Ino asked.

"Don't answer that. It's a trap." Shikamaru spoke up.

"Would you go out with this chick Kiba is talking about just because she has big tits?" Sakura asked.

"_Glorious_ tits." Kiba corrected as he took a swig of his fifth beer.

"Can we stop saying tits. Its vulgar." Neji interjected.

"I agree." Hinata said softly.

"Fine, would you go out with her is she had big _breasts_?" Sakura repeated.

Naruto thought for a moment. He realized if he said yes, he would be in some deep shit. So, his reply was, "Looks are a good thing, but I like a girl with personality. A girl can be hot and have big _breasts_, but she could be a bitch too. I would rather have a not so hot chick who is nice then a pretty one who is mean."

The group was quiet for a moment. Shikamaru and Neji gave Naruto a look of approval, one that agreed with the blonde. Kiba, who was slightly drunk gave Naruto a look of utter confusion. Ino and Sakura were stunned to say the least, and Hinata was blushing.

"That was the right answer, Naruto." Sakura said with a smile.

Naruto grinned, "Thanks."

Sakura then gave Neji a look of curiosity, "What about you, Neji?"

"I feel the same way as Naruto. But I also want the girl to be respectful." He replied.

"You hear that, Ino, he said _respectful_." Shikamaru said with sarcasm.

"I heard what he said assface." She retorted.

Before they could argue a knock on the door was heard. Kiba got up stumbled to the door and looked through peephole to see who it was.

"Hey! It's Gaara!" Kiba exclaimed as he opened the door for the redhead, "Come on in." He slurred.

"You're drunk." Gaara stated.

"No I'm not, I'm just a bit tipsy." He said with a slight chuckle. The two walked back to the table and joined the rest of the group.

"You wanna play, sunshine?" Naruto asked Gaara with a grin.

"I'm good." Was his curt reply.

"What brings you here?" Sakura asked as she dealt the cards.

"Heard you guys were gathering tonight. Thought I'd stop by." Was Gaara's short response.

The rest of the group looked at their hands they were given.

"Fuck, I fold." Naruto whined.

"Jesus, Naruto, you have to wait till we put money in, then you can fold." Neji said with a bit of anger.

"No need to get pissy." Was the blondes reply, "Is he like this often, Hinata?"

"Sometimes. Y-you should see him a-and my father." She quietly said.

"Oooooo, the ever stoic Neji has a temper." Naruto teased.

"Well, at least I don't have a ramen fetish." He shot back.

"You leave the ramen out of this!" Naruto shouted.

"Not to break up this fascinating argument, but where is Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

Naruto froze for a moment. He didn't know where the raven-haired man was. He probably didn't want to know. Sasuke said he was going to "take care of things", whatever that meant. Knowing Sasuke though, Naruto knew that it involved killing.

* * *

"Make sure you count all the money. If a penny is missing I want to know about it. Orochimaru does not like his money stolen." Explained Kabuto.

"Yes boss. I'll have it done by tonight." Came the reply of one of Kabuto's men.

"Good, I'm going home now. See you tomorrow." Kabuto said as he exited the small building.

As Kabuto walked towards his silver Mercedes convertible, he thought of all the money he and Orochimaru had made with their last shipment. He smiled, nothing could bring him down.

As he got into the drivers seat, he stuck his key in the ignition. Before he started the car, a bullet entered the back of his head and exited out of his left eye spraying blood and tissue on the steering wheel and windshield. His body slumped over and his head rested on the car horn.

Out of the shadows, a young Uchiha walked over to the scene, a smoking gun in one hand, a gas can in the other. He holstered his gun and began empty the contents of the gas can on to Kabuto's body and car. When he finished he lit a match and watched as the car and the body that was in it burned. Orochimaru just lost his right hand man. Little did Orochimaru know, he was next.

* * *

Authors Note: Ok sorry it took so long to post this one up. I had to college projects due and on top of that some asshole tried to infect my computer with a virus. I want to say thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed my fic so far. Glad you all like it. I know there isn't a lot of action in this one but the next chapter there will be a high body count. And if anyone is offended by the 'tit' conversation, sorry, I just wanted a funny conversation between the group. Thanks again for reading! 


	12. Natural Born Killers

-1REMORSE IS FOR THE DEAD

CHAPTER 12: Natural Born Killer

Going to war with organized crime syndicates is never easy. Many things come into play. Many think that if you have more guns then you're going to win. That isn't always the case. The majority of the syndicates that come out on top is because they have cops, lawyers, and judges on their side. Guns help, but unless you have the others you might as well call it quits. This is the case if a crime family or organization goes to war with another crime family. All rules do not apply when it's one person who doesn't 'exist'.

* * *

Orochimaru was in a particularly foul mood. He had just learned that his right hand man, Kabuto, was killed last night. He kept wondering who would be bold enough to make a hit like that. Akatsuki was his first thought, but they were being watched closely by the FBI. Whoever did it, Orochimaru wanted their head.

He was just finishing a lunch at a Sushi restaurant he owned. He stood up and motioned for his three bodyguards to follow. The first thing the snake like man wanted to do was question all the men that were working with Kabuto last night. If one of them did it, Orochimaru would have them die a painful and horrible death.

As he and his bodyguards walked out of the restaurant and too his car, which was parked on the side of the street, he contemplated on how to go about finding the culprit who killed Kabuto. His thoughts soon stopped as a bullet blew apart the right side of his face. Blood splattered the nearest bodyguard. People in the street scattered and started screaming, some calling the police. The bodyguards had no idea where the gunshot came from, they didn't hear it until it hit their boss. One of the guards looked down at Orochimaru's body, he was dead. The entire right side of his face was gone, the sidewalk was covered in blood.

Sirens could be heard in the distance, but it made no difference. The killer was gone. As soon as he made the shot, he vanished. No one ever saw Sasuke perched on top of a tall building with a large rifle. No one saw him make the shot from nine-hundred yards away, and no one knew who he was as he quietly walked out of the building.

* * *

Naruto was in a cheerful mood today. He was on his way to the hospital to finally have his sling removed, and his friends said they would take him out for ramen when he was done. While driving to the hospital he got a phone call by an unknown number. He answered and said, "Hello?"

"Naruto, how are things?" Came the voice of Sasuke.

Naruto was stunned when he heard his voice, "S-Sasuke, is that you? Man, I've been worried about you."

"No need to be, things are fine." He replied.

"Got some good news, the doctors are taking off my sling today." Naruto said in a cheerful voice.

"That's great. I have some good news too, you won't have to worry about Iruka being a target, its all been taken care of." Sasuke explained.

Naruto was quiet, he knew what 'taken care of' meant, "Thanks." Was his meager reply.

"I still have some business to attend too, I'll keep you posted. Talk to you later." Sasuke said as he hung up..

"Uh, bye." Naruto quietly said to himself. He suddenly didn't feel so cheerful anymore.

* * *

Itachi and Deidara were going over some paper work their lawyers sent them when Kisame entered their office.

"Itachi, did you hear? Orochimaru is dead." Kisame informed his partner.

Itachi sat up from his chair, "What? How?"

"Someone shot him in broad day light about two hours ago. Its been all over the news." Kisame explained.

Itachi pulled out a cigarette and quickly lit it. He took a long drag, enjoying the nicotine going into his blood stream for the moment.

"Well, this is the best news I've heard all day." Itachi said with a smirk.

"What bold fucker could have pulled that off?" Kisame asked.

"Maybe the Russians, they never got along, yeah." Deidara said.

"I don't really care. He's just one more problem we don't have to deal with anymore." Itachi said as he sat back down and got back to work.

* * *

Sasuke found himself at his hideout, which was a small run down apartment in a bad part of town. He was laying on a dirty bed staring at the ceiling. He had just killed one of his employers, one of his major employers. It was for a good cause, he was protecting Naruto and Iruka, but for some reason he didn't feel to good about it.

"He was scum, a criminal. He deserved what he got." He said to himself out loud.

'And you aren't?' The little voice in his head said.

"Fuck you, don't ruin this with morality." Sasuke snapped back.

The raven haired man rubbed his face. Despite his feelings, he had work to do and it involved killing people, lots more people. He sat up and pushed his feelings aside and started to think of ideas on how rid himself of the Akatsuki. He had no idea where any of them lived. He knew businesses they owned and would occasionally frequent, but he had a feeling they weren't going to be hanging out there anymore. He needed to lure them out some how.

* * *

"I need your help." Sasuke said, over the phone.

"Isn't that the truth. Akatsuki wants you dead, from what I've heard." Came the monotone voice of Gaara.

"Which is why I called you. If you do this for me, we can call it even for the whole cop killing thing, deal?"

"Sure, what do you want me to do?" Gaara asked.

* * *

"There you go. Good as new." Tsunade said as she took off his sling.

Naruto moved his arm, then stretched it, " I'm so glad to have that thing off. It was bugging the hell out of me."

"I bet. Now, try to steer clear of crazy skinhead Nazis, ok?" She replied.

Naruto gave her a forced smile. He was happy his sling was off, but Sasuke still clouded his mind. He sounded fine, but he couldn't stop thinking about him.

"You ok, Naruto?" Tsunade asked.

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his doctor, "Sorry, I was just thinking. I'm kinda tired."

"You? Tired? I never knew tired was in your vocabulary." She teased.

Naruto chuckled then said, "Thanks, I gotta get going. The guys said they were going to treat me to ramen."

"You and your ramen. Its like crack to you. Well, I want to see you again in a week. Just to make sure everything is as it should be." She explained.

Naruto nodded and thanked her again. He made his way out of the hospital feeling somewhat better, but the raven haired man was still in his mind.

* * *

"Hello?" Came the voice of Tobi.

"This is Gaara. I heard about your problem with Sasuke." He replied.

"Oh yeah? How?" Tobi asked.

"Word gets around fast in this business."

"You interested in taking care of him?" Tobi asked, his interest taking over.

"I'd rather not go over that on the phone, knowing the feds have been watching you. But, let your associates know that I am interested in your 'problem'. " He explained

"Of course." Tobi replied.

"Have them call me on a phone you know for sure isn't tapped." Gaara said as he hung up.

"Well?" Sasuke asked.

"I guarantee you I will be getting a call back from them in five or ten minutes. I think they're going to take the bate." Gaara said. Sasuke nodded then sighed. Gaara cocked his head and gave him a curious look. "Something wrong?"

"No, this has to be done. Its either me or them. I choose them." Sasuke said.

"No need to convince me. I'm just along for the ride." Gaara said.

Suddenly his cell phone rang. Gaara looked at the number then answered.

"Hello?" Gaara said.

"We accept your offer. Where do you want to meet?" Came a voice.

Gaara looked over at Sasuke and gave him a thumbs up sign. It was on.

* * *

Naruto had just finished having ramen with his friends. They decided to have a small party when they got back to the apartments, which usually meant drinking copious amounts of alcohol. Naruto was on his fifth beer and the effects of the alcohol were taking over. He wasn't an alcoholic, but tonight he thought it wouldn't hurt to indulge himself and help him forget his troubles and thoughts of a certain hitman.

"I love beer. It's a great beverage." Kiba stated.

"In small quantities its good." Neji said as he sipped his second beer.

"What would make this beer even better would be some pork ramen." Naruto said with a slight slur.

"Even after all the ramen you ate today you still want more? We should just hook up a IV to you and have ramen constantly flowing into your veins" Shikamaru said.

"Hmmm, that would be awesome." Naruto said.

"You're drunk." Neji stated.

"Not yet, but I'm getting there." Naruto said with a smile.

* * *

Kakuzu cautiously walked to the designated meeting place Gaara talked about. He wanted seclusion. The place was an abandoned condo complex. Kakuzu didn't really want to meet with Gaara. Gaara gave him the creeps. He had that effect on most people who have had the displeasure of meeting him without the intention of murdering them.

He slowly entered the place and was greeted by the feeling of a cold gun barrel on the back of his head. Kakuzu froze in fear.

"You're late." Gaara stated.

"Sorry, this place was kind of hard to find." Kakuzu said a slight hint of nervousness in his voice.

Gaara lowered the gun and said, "Follow me."

Kakuzu sighed in relief and followed the redhead. The two ended up on the third floor of the complex and in a dirty yet large condo.

"This where you live?" Kakuzu asked.

"No, I like to set meetings here due to its isolation." Gaara explained.

Kakuzu shrugged then said, "Lets get to business shall we?"

Gaara nodded then motioned for him to sit down on a dusty chair. Gaara then said, "Since Sasuke is a professional killer, like myself, the fee is going to be tripled."

Kakuzu nodded, "The boss said he was willing to pay whatever, so triple is fine. When can you get it done?"

"Not sure, its going to be hard to track him, but I have my ways." Gaara said.

"The boss wants this done as soon as possible. The sooner you find and kill him the better." Kakuzu said.

"Really? Well, I should tell you that I know where he is."

"What?! You do?" Kakuzu said with amazement.

"Yes. Look behind you." Gaara said.

Kakuzu had a look of confusion on his face, then when the realization of what Gaara said hit him, his face paled in horror. He quickly turned around reaching for his gun he had tucked under his coat, but was stopped by a fist colliding with his face in a sickening crunch. He fell to the floor clutching a quickly bleeding nose. Sasuke walked up to Kakuzu with a sawed-off shot gun aimed at his face.

"Lets tie him up and get this show started." Sasuke said.

* * *

Naruto was having trouble walking to his apartment. He insisted to his friends he didn't need help getting there. Kiba lived on the same floor he did for god sake, he wasn't that drunk, or so he thought.

When he reached the door to his apartment he dropped his keys twice. Once he successfully made it inside his apartment, he went straight to his bed and laid down. In his alcohol clouded mind he wondered what Sasuke was up too.

* * *

Half way into the night, Sasuke found out who the Akatsuki boss was and learned where two other members lived. Kakuzu, who was tied to a chair, had lost four fingers on his left hand, the only one left was his pinky. Bruises were scattered upon his face, and his right eye was swollen shut. All of this was made possible by Gaara.

"Anything else you would like to share with us? I can do this all night." Gaara asked.

"What else do you want?! I told you, I don't know where they all live! I gave you the ones I did know, isn't that enough?!" Kakuzu shouted, tears streamed down his cheeks.

Sasuke walked over to Gaara and whispered, "I think he's tapped out on information."

"Well, just to be sure, we could threaten to cut off his testicles. That always gets guys to talk." Gaara said in a emotionless tone.

Sasuke detested the idea, Gaara had already brutalized the man enough, but it was worth a shot, "Go for it."

Gaara nodded then pulled out a large knife and walked over to Kakuzu. He began to unbutton their victims pants and slowly pulled them down.

"W-what the fuck are you doing?! I told you all I know! I swear!" He screamed hysterically. Gaara then reached for the mans boxers.

"No! Please don't do this! I don't know anything more! I swear to god! Please don't fucking do this!" He begged.

Gaara stopped what he was doing and looked at the horrified man. He then got up and walked over to Sasuke, "I think he's telling the truth. As much as I would love to continue this, we aren't going to get anymore info out of him."

Sasuke nodded, "I agree. Lets take care of business." He said as he grabbed the sawed-off shotgun and walked over to Kakuzu.

Gaara put Kakuzu's pants back on him then untied and helped the beaten and tortured man up.

"Sasuke, don't do this, please! Look at me! I had nothing to do with wanting you dead. It was your brother and the bosses idea! I swear to god it wasn't me!" Kakuzu explained in vein.

Gaara lead the man into a bathroom and placed him into the tub. Sasuke followed and shut the door. With what little strength he had left, Kakuzu began to struggle. Gaara punched him in the face until the man stopped moving.

"Get back and plug your ears." Sasuke ordered.

Gaara stood back, plugged his ears, and let Sasuke make the finishing blow. The raven haired man stared at the unconscious Akatsuki member. For the second time today, he felt that weird feeling he felt after he killed Orochimaru. He never liked it when people begged for mercy. Especially people he knew. He pushed those feelings away once more then placed the barrel of his shotgun at the forehead of the unconscious Kakuzu, then closed the shower curtains as to shield himself from the mess that was sure to follow. This had to be done, he convinced himself. Sasuke then pulled the trigger causing Kakuzu's head to splatter all over the shower curtains and wall. He moved the curtains to survey the mess.

"Fuck, my ears are ringing." Sasuke said with irritation.

Gaara walked over to the tub to get a look, "Looks like lasagna." Gaara said, referring to the splattered remains of Kakuzu's head.

"Thanks for that image." Sasuke said as he walked out of the bathroom and grabbed a large duffel bag. He re-entered the bathroom to find Gaara still looking at the carnage. Sasuke put the duffel bag on the body of Kakuzu then said, "Ok, we're set. There's enough explosives in this bag to destroy this entire floor."

Gaara nodded and the two proceeded to exit the complex. As the two got into the car, Sasuke was setting up the remote to detonate the explosives.

"Boom." Sasuke said as he pushed a button causing a massive explosion from the third floor. The roar from the blast shook the car.

"Impressive. We need to do this more often." Gaara said.

"We just might. I still have quite a few guys left to kill." Sasuke said.

"If you need anymore sessions of interrogation I will be more then happy to help." Gaara informed.

"I might just take you up on that offer. I don't have the stomach for it." Sasuke replied.

* * *

Authors note: Ok so here's the deal. I know I already posted up chapter 12 but I took it off fan fiction and made some changes. I wasn't satisfied with it and some readers weren't happy with it. I rushed it and I apologize for the outcome. I feel better about the revisions I made, hopefully you guys do too. 


	13. Bound to Violence

-1REMORSE IS FOR THE DEAD

CHAPTER 13: Bound to Violence

When I made the decision to kill people for a living my life was changed forever. You never feel safe. You're always worried that someone may try to exact revenge on you. You learn to sleep with an eye open. You're in a constant state of anxiety, thinking that the next day will be your last. When you make your first kill, from that point on your life is dedicated to violence. Someday along the road of life you may make the decision to quite this violent path, but for some reason it still follows you. It seems that this violent path I have chosen won't ever end until I'm dead. I hope I can change this fate that seems to haunt me.

* * *

Sasuke was currently scoping out the house of Zetsu. He was surprised to find out that Zetsu was a cop, and not just any cop, a narcotics officer. If he killed him, cops would be coming out of the woodwork to find him. Sasuke also knew it would be a major blow to the Akatsuki if he killed him. Having a well decorated police officer on your side is very handy. Sasuke wondered if any of his fellow officers knew he worked for the Akatsuki.

He had only met the man once, so he didn't know much about him. That would probably make it easier on his conscience when he finally killed him. Just then Sasuke's phone began to ring.

"What's up?" Sasuke asked.

"Did you find his house?" Came Gaara's monotone voice.

"Yeah, I am parked outside of it as we speak." Sasuke said.

"I'll meet you there." Gaara said.

"You remember the address?"

"Yes." Was Gaara's reply as he hung up.

Sasuke sighed then put his phone away.

* * *

Itachi was currently on his way to meet the boss. He knew this wasn't going to be a pleasant talk. Itachi pulled up to a expensive restaurant and exited out his car and began to walk in.

"Mr. Uchiha, good to see you again. Pein is waiting for you." Said the host as he guided him to where Pein was currently sitting. Itachi quietly sat down and thanked the host, then they were alone. When Itachi got the call from the boss that he wanted to have a personal talk with him, he knew it wasn't going to be a happy conversation. When the boss wanted something done he expected it to be done. If it wasn't done, people were likely to lose body parts or their lives. Itachi was hoping neither would happen to him.

Pein was quietly looking at the menu when he said, "Aren't you going to order anything?"

"I already know what I want." Itachi replied.

Pein smirked then said, "That's good. Now, do you know what I want?"

Itachi was quiet for a moment, he knew where this conversation was heading and was dreading it. He then nodded and said, "Yes, but you must realize its really hard to find him."

"He's your fucking brother, how hard is it for you to find him?" Pein growled.

"He's been doing this sort of thing for quite some time, and he's really good at it." Itachi said.

"I don't want to hear excuses, Itachi. I want him dead, do you understand?" Pein asked, " He's killed one to many of my men, and I am getting very impatient. I have enough to deal with already and I don't need your stupid fucking psycho of a brother around to fuck things up more then he has. I want him dead and I do mean it. Got it?"

Itachi nodded, "Yes."

"Good, now get the fuck out of my restaurant and don't disappoint me." Pein commanded.

Itachi stood up and began to leave, his fist clenched in anger. His hatred towards his brother was growing. It was at this point that Itachi thought of something that may lure his brother out.

* * *

Naruto was bored out his mind. Customers were scarce today which left him with almost nothing to do. His mind would occasionally drift to Sasuke. He wondered what the hitman was up to. He saw the news about Orochimaru being murdered in broad daylight. No one knew who did it, but Naruto did. It made him sick when he saw that all over the TV. He didn't have to worry about Iruka being in danger, but he felt as if he was getting sucked into a world that there was no escape from. A world he didn't want to be apart of. He had already witnessed the deaths of two people at the hands of Sasuke and he was shot at by the Akatsuki. He was afraid of what might be in store for him later down the road.

Just then he heard the door open signaling a customer. He quickly snapped out of his thoughts to see a very large man. He had small beady eyes and tattoos on his neck that made it seem like he had gills. Naruto put on a smile and said, "Good afternoon, sir. Can I help you with anything?"

The man stopped and looked at Naruto. The blonde felt a bit unnerved under the mans intense stare. He then said, "Do you know of a Sasuke Uchiha?"

Naruto's eyes widened slightly and said, "Yeah, he's my neighbor."

"You don't say? Do you know where he is?" The man asked.

"No." Naruto nervously replied.

The man leaned in closer, "You wouldn't be lying to me would you?

Naruto shook his head then said, "N-no sir."

The man then gave a creepy smile that reminded Naruto of a shark, then said, "Thanks for your time." The man then left.

Naruto was relieved when the man left the building. He was going to be closing soon, he couldn't wait to get back home.

* * *

Itachi was waiting to get a phone call from Kisame. He remembered Hidan saying that he saw Sasuke talking with a young blonde haired man. Sasuke never talks to anyone unless its business or unless he has too. He figured the blonde would be a good place to start. Suddenly his phone rang, he quickly picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Itachi, its Kisame. I just visited the guy you told me about. It's the same guy that Hidan saw. I'm sure of it. He lives next to Sasuke."

Itachi thought for a moment. He wasn't even sure if this young man knew where Sasuke was, but at this point Itachi was willing to try anything. "Pay him another visit. Show him you mean business. See if he truly knows anything." Itachi replied.

"Will do." He then hung up.

Itachi lit up a cigarette and was hoping for the best.

* * *

Sasuke and Gaara were currently waiting in their car for Zetsu to show up at his house. The two had all their equipment ready and soon their plan would be set into motion. As the two were waiting Sasuke's mind began to wander, and for some reason it wandered into thoughts and memories he hadn't had in a long time. Memories of his parents before they died. He wondered if they were still alive today, would things be the way they are now. Then he began to wonder if Naruto was ok. Then one memory came up, one that he believed was brought up from his guilty conscious. He remembered the first person he ever killed. It was at this moment that Sasuke realized that Gaara was starring at him.

"What?" Sasuke muttered.

"Something is on you mind." Gaara stated.

"Its nothing."

Gaara gave Sasuke a look that said his answer wasn't acceptable. Sasuke sighed and said, "Just thinking of old times." Gaara just gave a nod.

The two were quiet for a moment, then Sasuke said, "Do you remember the first person you killed?"

Gaara looked at Sasuke and lifted a brow, "Is that what you were thinking about?" He asked.

"Yeah, haven't thought about it in a while."

Gaara didn't say anything, Sasuke could tell the subject was a touchy one.

"I remember his name, what he looked like and even where he lived. Weird how you always remember the first one." Sasuke mused, "He was a lawyer that a mob member wanted me to off. At first I refused and I told the man he was crazy. The guy laughed at first, then he told me that I seemed like the kind of guy that could pull it off, but I still refused. That's when he showed me the money he would give me to kill the man. All that money for just killing someone. It was easy enough to get away with," Sasuke stopped thinking for a moment, "I killed him as he headed to his car. Before I shot him he just looked at me with a horror stricken face. I'll never forget that face."

Gaara was quiet. He hadn't moved since Sasuke brought up the subject of their first kill.

"Do you remember your first?" Sasuke asked.

Gaara merely nodded. Sasuke thought of asking who it was but didn't. It wasn't his business. If Gaara didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't make him.

"My uncle was the first person I killed." Gaara said, "I stabbed him in the throat with a kitchen knife." He continued without a sign of remorse or sadness.

There was an uncomfortable silence between the two of them. Gaara's gaze was still directed at Zetsu's place. Sasuke was thinking of something to say to break the silence when Gaara said, "He's here."

Sasuke turned to see Zetsu pulling up to his house in a BMW. The two began to grab their equipment. As they grabbed what they needed the two exited the car and headed toward their target. Zetsu had no idea the moment he would get out of his car would be his last.

* * *

Naruto was locking the main door to the music store. He finally was off and he couldn't wait to get home and relax, have a few beers, and go to sleep. He got into his car and cranked up the radio. Some heavy metal was playing and Naruto couldn't help but do some minor head banging to the beat.

Six songs later, Naruto reached the apartment complex. He whistled all the way to his apartment. Once he entered he noticed something was wrong. Some of his kitchen drawers were open and his counter was messier then he remembered.

"I do apologize for the mess. I got a bit hungry waiting for you." Came a voice.

Naruto jumped, and quickly turned to see a large man sitting on his sofa. Naruto's heart beat went even faster when he realized it was the man from earlier.

"Wha-what are you doing in my apartment?!" Naruto shouted.

"I'd keep your voice down if I were you. Wouldn't want your pink-haired neighbor to hear you. I'd hate to have to kill her." He calmly said., "Have a seat."

Naruto slowly walked to his cushioned chair in front of the man and sat down.

"Good, now, I am going to ask you a few questions regarding the whereabouts of Sasuke Uchiha, your neighbor. If you lie to me or I think you're lying to me, I can guarantee that you will be pissing blood by the end of the night. Do you understand?"

Naruto gulped and slowly nodded, "Y-yes." Was his meak reply.

"Ok then, lets get started." The large man replied.

Naruto began to wish Sasuke was here.

* * *

Gaara and Sasuke were currently finishing up on digging a hole in the forest for their latest victim, Zetsu, who was stuffed in their car trunk. The two made their way out of the hole that was to be Zetsu's grave and walked over to the car. The two opened the trunk to reveal the bloodied body of Zetsu.

"Get his arms, I'll get his legs." Sasuke said to Gaara.

The two then grabbed the body and brought it over to the hole they had dug.

"On three, ok? One…..two…..three!" Sasuke said as he and Gaara let go of the body at the same time. The body hit the ground with a dull thud. The noise after that, surprised both men. It was the sound of a loud intake of breath. The two looked into the hole and saw that Zetsu was still breathing.

"How the fuck is he still alive?" Sasuke asked in horror.

Gaara merely shrugged, "Don't know."

"I'll go get the gun." Sasuke said as he began to turn around towards the car.

Gaara then gently grabbed Sasuke's shoulder then said, "I'll take care of it."

Sasuke turned to look at Gaara, who was still looking at the barely alive Zetsu with fascination. Sasuke knew Gaara was a disturbed individual, but within the last few weeks, he's really got to see how twisted he was, and tonight he had witnessed just how cruel he could be.

"How do you plan to 'take care' of it?" Sasuke asked, almost not wanting to know.

Gaara turned to look at Sasuke. He gave the raven haired man the slightest of smiles then walked to where they left one of the shovels. He grabbed the digging tool and climbed in the hole Zetsu was laying in.

"Jesus, Gaara, just shoot him. He's been through enough already." Sasuke said in an almost worried tone.

Gaara just ignored him. He then lifted the shovel up and brought it down hard onto Zetsu's chest. The dying man just let out a garbled noise of pain that didn't sound human. Sasuke turned away from the gruesome sight as Gaara brought down the shovel on the dying man a few more times. Each hit was followed by a wet squishy sound that made Sasuke cringe. Sasuke had witnessed Gaara's brutality to his victims many times, but for some reason it was really bothering him tonight. The shear cruelty Gaara showed to Zetsu earlier really bothered Sasuke. Usually, he would just turn away and not care to much, but now he cared. Once Gaara was done with him earlier, Zetsu was unrecognizable. Sasuke couldn't get the sounds of his tortured begging out of his head.

"_God damn conscience." _Sasuke thought.

When the noises stopped, Gaara climbed out of the hole with blood splattered on his face. The shovel, too, was covered in the crimson substance.

"Feel better?" Sasuke asked with irritation.

Gaara gave a slight nod and began to bury the body.

* * *

Naruto was on the floor holding his stomach. He didn't answer one of Kisame's questions correctly and was rewarded with a fist into his stomach.

"You brought that upon yourself. Now, I will ask you again, where is he?" Kisame asked.

Naruto took in a few more breathes then said, "I told you, I don't know where the fuck he is!"

Kisame grabbed Naruto and pulled up to his feet and a landed another punch into his gut, causing Naruto to gasp for air and fall straight to the ground again, clutching his stomach in pain.

"You're a tough little guy, I'll give you that." Kisame said. He looked at the blonde who was still holding his stomach in pain. Kisame sighed and said, "I know where you live now. I know who your friends are, and if you don't want them or yourself to get hurt you'll listen to what I have to say. You will contact Sasuke and get him to come here within the next two days. If you fail to do this I'll kill you and your friends. You got that?" Kisame explained to the blonde.

Naruto, who was still on the ground, merely nodded.

"Good, well, its been nice talking to you. Wish it could have been under better circumstances." Kisame then left Naruto's apartment.

The blonde just laid on his back and stared up at the ceiling.

"I am so fucked." Naruto said to himself in disbelief.

* * *

Authors note: Hey everyone! First off, I want to say sorry for taking so long to update. School has been hellish and on top of that I started a new job. I hope you guys like this chapter, I had trouble writing it. I also want to thank everyone who's taken the time to read this fic and an extra special thanks to everyone who's reviewed it. Please review some more! If you want to complain about the fic, just email me. Thanks!


	14. A Dance with the Devil

-1REMORSE IS FOR THE DEAD

CHAPTER 14: Dance with the Devil

Very few times have I let my temper get the best of me. Those few times led to many deaths. I am not one to get angry and lose my temper as I was taught by my mom. She would tell me, 'your temper is the one thing you don't get rid of by losing it'. For the most part, its been an easy task….until recently.

The drive back to Sasuke's hide out was a quiet one. Sasuke was in deep thought. He was trying to figure out how to finish the rest of the Akatsuki off without getting killed in the process. It would be a difficult task indeed. So far, he'd been lucky, but luck only lasted for so long.

* * *

Gaara hadn't said a word the entire drive. He just stared ahead out the window, no expression on his face. Gaara was truly meant for this work, Sasuke thought he was, but time has showed that he's not. He's good at it, but his conscience is getting the best of him, and he didn't like feeling guilty for killing people. He wondered how Gaara could be the way he is. What could've happened to him to make him the way he is, Sasuke thought. Temari and Kankuro turned out alright.

"_You aren't much better."_ That voice in his head said.

Sasuke sighed, the voice had a point. After all he's killed his fair share of people_. _It was then that Gaara decided to speak up.

"You going to the funeral tomorrow?" Gaara asked.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in confusion, "What funeral? For who?"

"For your first employer. The man who hired you to do your first kill, Gato." Said.

Sasuke seemed somewhat surprised by the news, but was silent for a moment, " Gato's dead? How did he die?"

"He was run over by a truck three times." Gaara said.

Sasuke made a noise of disgust then said, "How unprofessional. What moron pulled that off?"

"Not sure. So, you going to his funeral?" Gaara asked once more.

"Why would I want to? Just because he hired me for my first hit doesn't mean he holds some special place in my heart."

Gaara shrugged, "Just thought you'd be interested since you brought up your first kill earlier." Gaara said in his deadpan voice.

There was an awkward silence between the two when Sasuke's cell phone began to ring. He took it out of his pocket and looked at the number. His eyes widened slightly when he saw the number.

"Hello?" Sasuke answered.

"Thank God! I've been trying to reach you for hours!" Came Naruto's panicked voice.

"I've been in a area where there isn't any reception. What's the problem?"

"The Akatsuki is the problem! One of them snuck into my apartment and beat the shit out of me! There's probably gonna be blood in my piss!" Naruto shouted.

"Which one was it?" Sasuke asked, anger present in his voice.

"I don't know! He was huge, and had tattoos on his neck that looked like gills. He was strong as fuck too! He said I had to contact you and get you to come here or they will kill me and Sakura and anyone else I know. I don't know what to do!" Naruto explained, his voice sounded like he was about to cry.

"Calm down, Naruto. Let me think for a moment."

"What's going on?" Gaara asked.

"Nothing, I…..wait, where is Gatos funeral being held at?" Sasuke asked Gaara.

"St. Peters Cathedral, why?"

"Naruto, do you know where St. Peters Cathedral is?" Sasuke asked.

There was a small silence then, "Yeah, I know where it is. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Meet me there tomorrow at eleven in the morning. We'll talk then." Sasuke said.

"Are you sure? Will that be safe?" Naruto asked.

"It'll be fine. Just be there, see you then." Sasuke said then hung up before Naruto got a chance to say good bye.

"Looks like you're going to the funeral after all." Gaara said, a slight hint of amusement could be heard in Gaara's voice.

"You're coming too, I've got a plan." Sasuke said.

* * *

To say Naruto was a nervous wreck would be the understatement of the century. Naruto was beyond a nervous wreck. As he walked to his car to he kept looking around to make sure no one was following him. If one were to see him, one would think of him as a nervous Chihuahua. Once on the road he kept looking in his rear view mirror to make sure no one was following him to St. Peters.

"Why do I always have shitty luck!" He shouted to himself as he hit the steering wheel.

Losing his temper was one thing Naruto was good at doing. All the stress he had over the events that have happened to him recently were bubbling up and anger was the emotion that decided to show. He was angry that he was beat up by skinheads, he was angry that had witnessed Sasuke murder someone, he was angry that a large man snuck in his apartment and beat the shit out of him, he was angry at the whole situation he was in. What he was truly angry at was the fact that he had no control over anything.

As he pulled up to the Cathedral he couldn't help but notice all the cars parked outside the massive Cathedral. He parked his car and began to walk inside. He paused a moment and noticed everyone was dressed in black and there was coffin at the front of the church. That's when it dawned on him.

_"Shit! This is a funeral service!"_ He shouted in his mind. He also realized that he was wearing jeans and a orange shirt with a orange jacket. He was thankful that all the people that were attending the service were sitting at the front of the church filling only the first and second rows. They hadn't noticed Naruto. There was one man that was dressed in a black suit sitting twenty rows away from everyone else, his hair was spiked in a odd fashion, and Naruto knew who it was. He carefully made his way to sit next to Sasuke. Sasuke glanced over at Naruto, who looked pissed.

"You're a dick." Naruto bluntly said.

"Oh? How so?" Sasuke asked.

"You have us meet at a fucking funeral? You could have told me there was going to be a funeral service. Look how I'm dressed!" Naruto whispered loudly.

"It's fine, and don't swear, we're in church." Sasuke whispered back.

"Who's funeral is this anyway?" Naruto asked.

"The guy who hired me for my first hit." Sasuke said.

A sad look crossed Naruto's face for a moment then Sasuke said, "He was run over by a truck………..three times." He said.

Naruto looked nauseous after that bit of information, "I don't need know this."

Sasuke smirked after that comment. The priest said something that wasn't to audible and the people in the front rows stood up. Sasuke and Naruto stood up, not knowing what was going on. Then everyone sat back down.

"We have to talk, my life and my friends lives are at stake. What do we do?" Naruto whispered.

"Don't worry about it. I have things planned out." Sasuke said in a reassuring tone.

"Things? What things? What do you have planned?" Naruto asked.

"You were followed here, Naruto." Sasuke said.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock, "W-what? By who!" Naruto's whisper raised slightly. The people in the front rows all stood up once more as did Sasuke and Naruto then they all sat back down once again.

"Kisame, Tobi and some hired thugs followed you here. Probably here to kill me." Sasuke explained nonchalantly.

"How do you know this? I didn't see anyone follow me! And how do they know you're here?" Naruto whispered loudly.

"I have someone outside helping me. He watched them pull up as you were walking in. They probably don't know for sure that I'm in here. Most likely they were watching you to see if you would lead them to me." Sasuke said, "We're probably going to have to engage them once I walk out."

"Engage?! What do you mean engage?! In front of a church?!"

"Keep your voice down." Sasuke ordered.

"There are innocent people here, you can't just have a gunfight at a funeral!" Naruto went back to whispering loudly.

"Naruto, almost everyone of those people up there are armed." Sasuke said as he motioned to the people at the front of the church.

Naruto gave Sasuke a confused look, "How do you know that?"

"Because they are all part of mob. I bet their wives are armed too." Sasuke explained.

"So, you gonna have them shoot at the Akatsuki?" Naruto replied in a sarcastic tone.

"No, the Akatsuki wouldn't dare open fire at a made man's funeral. The Akatsuki know that these people are armed, and if they opened fire, the Akatsuki would be asking for a war, which they can't afford right now, because I'm loose." Sasuke enlightened Naruto.

Naruto saw the logic, but it wasn't full proof, "What if they do fire on you?"

"I'm prepared for that too. So is my friend who's on top of the church right now watching their every move through an assault rifle scope."

Naruto gulped, he really didn't want a gun battle happening while he was around. He started to feel sick again, then he realized something, "You asshole, you knew they were watching me. That's why you had me come here, god damnit." Naruto muttered.

"Naruto, no blasphemy in church, what's wrong with you?" Sasuke said sternly.

Naruto covered his mouth in embarrassment. He looked up at the crucifix at the front of the church and whispered a 'sorry' to it. He then looked at Sasuke and said, "Since when do you care about church stuff? You kill people for a living."

"I _used_ to kill people for a living, Naruto. People change. Well, I will change once I kill all the Akatsuki." He added.

Naruto rolled his eyes.

* * *

"Whose funeral?" Kisame asked.

"Gato's, he got run over by a truck three times." Tobi explained.

"Jesus, shitty way to go." Kisame said.

Tobi nodded in agreement.

"Do you really want us to open fire on the target if he comes out?" One of the hired men asked as he loaded his firearm.

"Yes, we aren't gonna give him a chance to do anything. I don't care who is killed in the process as long as he is dead." Kisame explained.

"This is going to be interesting." Tobi said.

* * *

As the funeral ended, the people attending the funeral began to walk out following the people carrying the coffin. Sasuke felt his phone vibrate and he quickly answered it.

"Hello?" Sasuke answered.

"They're in two black mini-vans across the street. Probably about ten guys total." Gaara's voice said.

"Understood, I'm going to walk out now. Prepare to fire if they make any moves." Sasuke said, then hung up, "You stay here." He said to Naruto.

"Don't die on me." Naruto said, his voice filled with worry.

"I'll be fine. If you hear gunfire, get low to the ground."

Naruto just nodded and watched as Sasuke blended with group of people walking outside. He was praying he wouldn't hear any gun shots, but with his luck, he was afraid something bad was going to happen.

Sasuke slowly made his was outside. He spotted the two vans across the street and kept an eye on them as he made his way to the parking lot. When he saw the side doors open on the mini-vans and men armed with assault rifles coming out of them, he quickly reached inside his suit jacket and pulled out his forty-five. Before he could fire a shot, automatic gunfire was heard from Gaara's M4 on top of the church. Sasuke watched as bullets tore through two of the men killing them. The people attending the funeral began to scream and shout as they ran for cover.

Sasuke unloaded an entire clip into one of the vans before quickly reloading. The men in the van that weren't killed from the gunshots quickly exited and began to open fire on Sasuke and the crowd of people. Gunshots and screams filled the area, making the neighborhood sound like a war zone. Gaara's assault rifle tore through the vehicles that the Akatsuki thugs were hiding behind. Kisame quickly got out of the second van and started firing at Gaara whom he noticed was hiding at the roof of the church.

Sasuke quickly hid behind a car for cover. He then noticed that some of the mob men who attended the funeral started shooting back at the Akatsuki men. Sasuke quickly stood up and shot at a group of men who were hiding behind a Ford pickup truck, then hid behind another car for cover. Gaara and Kisame kept on exchanging gunfire, while Sasuke exchanged gunfire with the hired Akatsuki help. Sasuke could hear the bullets zinging by and tearing through the car he was hiding behind. He began to wish he had a grenade.

It was at this moment that a stray bullet tore through Sasuke's left leg, spraying his blood on the asphalt. The pain was enough to make him shout out in agony. He held the wound for a moment and at that moment a feeling he hadn't had in a long time began to emerge. It was a mixture of fear and pure rage. They had wounded him and it _hurt_. He watched as the blood began to ooze out of his wound. A sudden urge to kill every living thing around him began emerge. His mind had one goal, and that goal was to kill who caused him this pain. His adrenaline began to kick in at full force. He stood up, ignoring the pain in his leg and the fact that he was still being shot at. He began to run towards the men shooting at him. The pain in his leg seemed gone for a moment, his body felt light, and his mind was filled with a killer intent.

The Akatsuki thugs never knew what hit them. Within seconds Sasuke was amongst them and killing them one by one. They began to scatter away from him, but their running was futile. Sasuke approached two men who began to run away from him, he shot one in the back and the other in the neck. The one shot in the back was on the ground writhing in pain, while the one shot in the neck was dead as Sasuke approached them. The one that was still alive noticed Sasuke getting closer and began to beg for mercy, but it fell upon deaf ears as Sasuke shot him in the face killing him. He saw another man fleeing the scene. Sasuke aimed carefully and fireed a round that tore its way through the mans gut. The man screamed and fell to the floor holding his wound. Sasuke made his way to the fallen man.

"W-wait! I'm sorry!" The man begged.

Sasuke ignored the mans pleas and fired three rounds into his head. Sasuke looked around and noticed that Kisame was gone. The gunfire had finally ceased. His adrenaline high was wearing off. It was then that the pain in his leg began to return in full force. He looked down and noticed his whole pant leg was soaked in his blood. He gave a sigh of annoyance.

"This is going to be a problem." He muttered to himself.

Not letting his wound get the best of him, he limped his way to the mini-vans the Akatsuki were using. One looked like Swiss-cheese due to the bullet holes that covered it. He opened the van door and saw two men, dead in their seat, and riddled with bullet wounds. He left that van and headed over to the next one. This van wasn't as damaged. He opened the passenger door and there laid Tobi, holding a bullet wound he took in his abdomen and still breathing in his seat. Sasuke grabbed the masked man and violently dragged him out the vehicle. Tobi shouted in pain.

"You realize this is your final moment alive, Tobi?" Sasuke asked in a ragged breath.

The masked man nodded slowly, "Just get it over with."

Sasuke pulled out his forty-five and aimed it at the masked mans head.

"Sorry things ended up this way." Sasuke rasped out, his pain and blood loss began taking its toll.

"Me too." Tobi said.

And with that being said, Sasuke fired his gun. Blood sprayed onto the pavement and Tobi's body was still. Sasuke holstered his gun and he looked to the sky. He suddenly felt very light headed. He almost forgot the pain in his leg. He collapsed to the ground and continued to stare at the blue sky.

"God, I'm tired." He muttered to himself.

He could hear his name being called, but it was faint, like someone was calling him from far away. His eyes were getting heavy, and all he wanted to do was sleep. Darkness slowly took over his vision and unconsciousness took over the hitman.

* * *

Author note: AHHHH!! Sorry! I know, I know, I take for fuckin' ever to update. I blame college and my work. I hope you guys like this chapter. I had so much trouble writing the action scenes. I'm horrible at it, so sorry if the writing on that part sucks. I can picture the whole shoot out in my head but its hard to translate that into writing. I don't have a beta reader, so if there are some spelling or grammar mistakes, I apologize for that too. I read over this thing numerous times, but I still miss things. And as always please review! Thanks to all who take the time to read this fic! Last but not least, the story is going to be coming to an end within the next three or four chapters. I wanted to know if guys want a "good" ending or the "bad" ending. I am debating on which to do. Tell me what you want!


	15. The Aftermath

-1Author Note: This chapter contains explicit sexual dialogue. You have been warned.

REMORSE IS FOR THE DEAD

Chapter 15: The Aftermath

Not sure what to tell you now. All the rules that have been laid out for men who have lived the life of a hitman have been broken by myself. I don't know what direction I am going in anymore. What's happening to me? My life was once so simple now its taken a dramatic turn into the chaotic and the unknown. Is it my fault? Is it Naruto's fault? Or am I getting what I deserve for all the people I've murdered? I don't know anymore…

* * *

"We've gotta get him to a hospital! He's bleeding all over the place!" Came the frantic voice of Naruto.

"Calm down and listen to me. Put pressure on it and try to slow the circulation of blood to his wound." Came the calm and collected voice of Gaara.

Naruto did as he was told. He placed his hands on the wound and added some pressure to it. He heard Sasuke make a slight groan of pain. Naruto then noticed that Gaara missed the exit to the hospital.

"What are you doing?! You missed the hospital exit!" Naruto shouted.

"We aren't going to the hospital." Gaara said.

* * *

"I don't fucking believe this!" Itachi shouted. He was currently watching the news, and the headline was 'Mob Shoot Out at Funeral'. Just then, Itachi's cell phone began to ring. He looked at the number and quickly opened the phone.

"What the fuck happened?!" Itachi yelled.

"Sasuke knew we were coming. He had someone positioned on top of the church with a assault rifle." Came the voice of Kisame.

"Is Tobi with you?"

There was a brief pause, "No, he's dead."

"That slippery little shit! How is he so goddamned good!?" Itachi seethed.

"What's the plan now?" Kisame asked.

"We are going to have to lay low. Instead of us looking for Sasuke, lets have him look for us." Itachi explained.

"Ok, I'm on my way back."

"No, do not come back here," Itachi warned, "We need to stay away from each other. You just shot up a fucking mob funeral. Pein, Konan, Deidara and myself cannot be seen with you."

There was a brief pause, "Where the fuck do you want me to go?" Kisame asked, anger in his voice.

"Stay in that shit house you have in the slums. No one knows you own it. Stay there until this shit blows over. Don't do anything stupid, and don't call me, I'll call you." Itachi explained then hung up.a

* * *

Sasuke was currently sleeping on a bed in a rundown apartment complex. His leg was wrapped in bandages, and the bullet was taken out by Gaara. The bullet removal wasn't one of the most pleasant experiences Sasuke had, but he's had worse.

Naruto was sitting down in the kitchen drinking a beer, trying to relax after what had happened. His clothes were covered in blood, and his face looked tired and weary. Gaara was leaning against the kitchen counter, starring at Naruto with intensity.

The silence was broken when Naruto spoke up, "I take it you were Sasukes help that was on top of the church," Gaara merely nodded at Naruto's statement, "Are you a hitman too?"

Gaara's emotionless face kept starring at the blonde before he spoke a single word, "Yes."

Naruto gave a tired chuckle, "Wow, I wonder if any of my other friends are killers too."

"You should get some sleep." Gaara suggested.

"How the fuck can I sleep after what happened?! You two are fucking crazy, you know that?! How could you choose to live a life like this? I'm surprised you two haven't died of a heart attack already!" Naruto ranted.

Gaara quirked an eyebrow in amusement and gave a slight smirk at Naruto's behavior.

"Don't smirk at me! I'm being serious! You two just started shooting everything at a mans funeral!" Naruto shouted.

"Please keep your voice down. You're loud." Gaara stated.

Naruto made a noise of frustration then laid down on the floor of the apartment. He suddenly found the floor very comfortable.

"You know, I think I'll just rest here for a moment." Naruto said as he closed his eyes. Moments later he was sound asleep.

A few minutes passed as Gaara watched Naruto's sleeping form intently. A battle was going on in his mind. A battle he's never had in his entire life of killing people. The battle was the decision to let Naruto live or kill him. In every case Gaara killed without thinking. Be it through brutality or through being quick and efficient. His favorite being brutality. But a feeling he didn't understand kept him from killing the blonde. It was a weird feeling he never felt before.

"You gonna kill him?" Came the tired voice of Sasuke.

Gaara wasn't sure how to reply. He liked Naruto, and he didn't like a whole lot of people.

"A part of me says I should and the other part says I shouldn't." Gaara replied.

Sasuke gave a slight chuckle, "He has that effect on people."

"So I've noticed."

"After all this, you aren't really going to kill him, are you?" Sasuke asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

Gaara looked at Sasuke then down at Naruto, then back at Sasuke, "No." Was his simple reply. Sasuke let a sigh of relief.

"On to bigger business. Our little skirmish at the funeral has caught the medias eye as well as every law enforcement agency in this city and country. What's going to be our next plan?" Gaara asked.

Sasuke stared up at the ceiling for a moment trying to think. What could they do now? He was sure the Akatsuki would hide for a while, and they had to hide for while too. He tried to think of possible places they would hide.

"You know anyone at all that might know where the Akatsuki might be hiding? Maybe safe houses they have? Anything of that nature?" Sasuke asked the redhead.

Gaara pondered the question for a minute, then said, "Anko, if anybody would know, she would know."

Sasuke made a noise of annoyance, "She's crazy though."

"True, but she has connections, she knows people, and her whores know people." Gaara explained.

Gaara had a point. Anko ran a brothel, a well known and high-priced brothel. Her prostitutes had been with well known crime figures, politicians, aristocrats and celebrities. She had connections, and right now Sasuke was willing to try anything.a

* * *

Itachi was on his third cigarette as he waited for a phone call he had been dreading. He brought the cigarette to his mouth and took a long drag from it, enjoying the way the nicotine coursed through his veins. The smoke was smooth and relaxing. When the phone rang his enjoyment soon plummeted. He looked to see who the caller was. He gave a sigh and answered.

"Hello?"

"Do you mind telling me what the fuck is going on!?" Came the furious voice of Pein, "I have enough problems with the feds, and now I have problems with the fucking mob and the goddamned press! I said get rid of your brother not start a fucking war!" Ranted Pein.

"He has help. Someone was on top of the church with a assault rifle. He knew we were coming." Itachi explained.

"Who the hell is helping him?" He asked.

"Don't know. Whoever it was did a good job at killing most of our men. Kisame barely got away."

"Where is that dumb fuck anyway? He and that dipshit Tobi really did a bang up job. If things weren't so bad right now I'd have them both killed."

"I told him to go to his house in the slums. No one will look for him there, and Tobi is dead." Itachi said.

"Are you fucking kidding me?! Now the mob knows for sure we were involved and so do the fucking cops! You tell Kisame that if he does anything without my supervision he's going to be buried in the woods! No more fuck ups, Itachi. Lay low until I sort all this shit out." Pein said as he hung up.

Itachi hung up the phone and silently swore under his breath.

* * *

Two days had passed since the shoot out. Sasuke was able to walk on his own, with the help of some pain killers, and Naruto's nerves had finally calmed down. The three young men were in Gaara's car driving to Anko's brothel. Naruto, who had never been to a brothel, was getting rather antsy, and not in a good way.

"Refresh my memory, why are we going to a brothel again?" Naruto asked.

"To get laid." Sasuke sarcastically replied.

Naruto fidgeted for a moment, then said, "Really?"

Sasuke looked back at Naruto with a smirk on his face, "No, not really, but you can if you want. Anko does have some beautiful women there who will ride you like a horse."

"Shut the fuck up. I don't want to have sex with a hooker." Naruto snapped back Sasuke.

"Fine, fine, and don't call them hookers while we're there." Sasuke said.

"Prostitute, whore, and slut are other words you do not want to say while we are there." Gaara stated.

"Why? That's what they are aren't they?" Naruto asked.

"Anko will cut off your balls if you do, and if she doesn't her girls will. They may be attractive, but they know how to protect themselves, and they know how to hurt men if you anger them." Sasuke explained.

Naruto gulped, "Great, I'm liking the place already."

* * *

"What the fuck are you two doing here?" Came the stunned voice Anko Mitarashi.

"We want information." Gaara stated.

"No shit? Well, its gonna cost you," She motioned for them to come inside, "Come on in boys. We'll talk in my office."

The three walked inside the brothel. Naruto was expecting it to be filthy but to his surprise the place looked like a five star hotel, with half naked women walking around. Some looked towards the young men, giving them winks. Naruto gave a gulp and a blush spread across his face.

"What's with the limp, Uchiha?" Anko asked.

"I was shot." He said.

"That sucks." She simply said.

The three entered her office and all took a seat.

"So, who's the blonde?" She asked.

"He's a friend of ours." Sasuke replied.

Anko raised an eyebrow, "He got a name?"

"Naruto, my name is Naruto." Naruto replied.

"Nice to meet you, Naruto" Anko said as she gave him a firm handshake.

"Likewise."

Anko sat back in her chair and gave the three young men a smile and said, "So what kinda information do you want me to grace upon you gentlemen?"

Gaara and Sasuke looked at each other briefly. Sasuke then said, "We need information on the Akatsuki."

"What kinda information?" She asked.

"Places where they would hide in a time of crisis." Gaara said.

Anko's face became serious, "That's dangerous information. Why do you want to know that?"

"I think you know why. You're weird but not stupid." Sasuke said.

Anko smirked, "You two must have a death wish. Taking on the Akatsuki isn't exactly a smart move."

"We've been doing a good job so far." Sasuke responded.

"If you call getting the attention of the media a good thing, then yeah, you two are doing a great job." Anko said sarcastically.

"Are you going to help us or not?" Sasuke asked, his frustration coming through in his voice.

"Depends on how much you are willing to pay." Anko said.

Sasuke reached inside his jacket and pulled out two stacks of one-hundred dollar bills. Gaara did the same.

'That's twenty thousand dollars." Sasuke said.

Anko gave a smile, she skimmed through the cash and took the four packets, "I accept. Although I only know of two."

"Which two?" Sasuke asked.

"Zetsu and Kisame." Anko answered.

"We just need Kisame." Gaara said with a smirk.

"You got Zetsu already?" Anko asked.

The two killers said nothing, but gave her a look that told her what she needed. She gave a nod of understanding then said, "Kisame hired one of my girls to pay him a visit down in the slums on the eastside of town. He owns a small house there. He apparently goes there when things are bad. He got lonely and wanted some company. When she came back with bruises I told him he would never get another girl of mine."

"Do you have a address or a street name?" Sasuke asked.

"As a matter of fact I do," She said as she reached inside one of her drawers, "I keep record of all the ones who aren't allowed any of my girls." She brought a large file and began to go through it. She pulled out a paper and handed it to Sasuke. "Here, it has his address and reason why he can't have any of my girls."

Sasuke examined it then said, "Excellent, thank you for your help."

"You are welcome. I assume that Kisame won't know who gave him up." Anko said.

"No." Was Sasuke's reply.

"Good, well, since you guys gave me lots of money and are ridding me of an asshole, how about some of my girls? It'll be on the house." Anko said as she wiggled her eyebrows.

"Thanks, but no thanks. We have work to get done." Sasuke said.

"Aw, come on. It'll help relax you guys. You aren't saying my girls aren't good enough for you are you?" Anko said, a dangerous tone came to her voice.

"No, we aren't saying that, its just-"

"Good! I'll have them meet with you. You guys can have the VIP rooms upstairs." Anko interrupted Sasuke.

* * *

Naruto found himself in a very uncomfortable situation. He was in a room alone with a attractive woman. Now, most guys would think this is a great situation, not Naruto. Its not that he didn't find her attractive, he just didn't want to have sex with a prostitute. He wanted sex to be something special.

Her name was Tayuya. Her hair was an exotic color and she looked rather young. Her clothing left very little to the imagination. He decided she was very pretty, until she spoke.

"So, we gonna fuck or what?" She asked bluntly.

Naruto gave a nervous cough, "Uh, what?"

"You heard me. Now let me lay down the ground rules. No whips, chains, or handcuffs. No pissing on me, shitting on me, or fucking me in the ass, you got it? You try any of that shit I'll cut your fucking balls off and shove them down your throat."

"Um-"

"I give blow jobs, but no cumming in my mouth. You warn me before you blow your load. This one guy didn't warn me and I got a mouth full of man chowder. I don't wanna be tasting your future kids, you got that?" She explained.

"Y-yeah, but-"

"Good. Another rule, you have to wear a condom, no cumming inside me. I don't do weird shit. I ain't callin' you daddy or big boy. This is just simple fucking, it ain't rocket science. Now that I've laid down the ground rules, lets get to it." She said as she slowly began to undress.

"Wait! I-I, uh, we don't have to do anything." Naruto said.

Tayuya gave him a weird look, "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Naruto mustered up his courage and said, "We don't have to have sex. Maybe we could just talk or watch t.v." Naruto said as he pointed to the television.

Tayuya continued to stare at him, "Is this some kinda joke?"

"No, its no joke. Is it so weird that I don't want sex?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, it is." She bluntly said.

"Look, I'm not that kinda person. I'm here because that Anko women forced me in here. Now, I'm sure you don't really want to have sex with me. Doesn't relaxing and watching some tv sound like a nice change of pace?" Naruto explained.

Tayuya eyed the blonde for a moment, "You're serious?"

"Yes, I am. The last few weeks have been rather stressful for me. I just want to relax and watch some tv, to make me feel like my life is normal again. I know you can't enjoy having sex with total strangers all the time. Wouldn't you like to feel normal again?" Naruto asked.

Tayuya was quiet for a moment, then said, "You know, you are the most strange customer I've had," She then gave him a slight smile, " TV sounds good, anything you want to watch?"

"I'll let you pick the channel." Naruto said with a smile.

* * *

Sasuke wasn't having as much luck as Naruto. He was stuck with a girl named Karin. She was pretty and what-not, she just wouldn't shut up. She kept saying he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. She was more then willing to fuck him. Little did she know the feeling wasn't mutual. She was rubbing her bare breasts against him trying to get him to engage in, as she put it 'sexual congress'. To her annoyance he was still clothed and not interested. It wasn't that he didn't like sex, he just didn't like her.

What he wanted more then anything was to hunt down Kisame. He probably knew where Itachi was hiding, as well as their boss, Deidara, and Konan. Sasuke thought for a moment, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to kill Deidara. He was more of a brother then Itachi was. Gaara would do it with no questions asked, but Sasuke didn't want Deidara killed by Gaara's hands, he didn't deserve a death like that. Sasuke was beginning to wonder if Deidara deserved death at all. Sasuke thought of bringing it up with Gaara, but he knew what Gaara would say. He would say kill him.

While Sasuke was having a tug-of-war battle in his mind, Karin was lying on the bed completely naked with her legs spread.

"I want you inside me, Sasuke." She moaned.

As arousing as the sight was, Sasuke resisted temptation by asking, "Are you clean?"

"What?"

"I said, are you clean?" Sasuke repeated.

"You mean disease-wise? Yes, I'm clean."

"Do you have medical papers that can prove this?" He asked.

She sat up and gave him a irritated look, "Why the fuck do you want medical papers? You calling me a liar?"

"No, I just don't want to wake up one morning and have my penis fall off because of something you gave me." Sasuke bluntly said, knowing how she would react.

"You're a fucking asshole! Get the fuck out of here!" She shouted.

Sasuke happily obliged.

* * *

Gaara was stuck with a young girl named Matsuri. She was cute, but Gaara thought she was to young. She was also soft spoken and seemed rather shy for being what she was.

"How old are you?" Gaara asked.

She seemed surprised by his question, "I-I turned eighteen a month ago." She meekly responded.

"How many men have you been with?"

"Two, they were both virgins. Anko only wants me with virgins. She doesn't want me with the 'rough crowd' as she put it." Matsuri explained.

"Why did you take this job? You should be in school." Gaara said.

"I-I am in school, this job is helping me pay for college. Anko gives me good pay. She replied.

Gaara looked intensely at her with his sea-green eyes, after a moment he grabbed a wad of money from his back pocket and handed it to her, "Here, that's about six hundred bucks. Its not much, but it should help you with college." Gaara said as he began to walk out of the room.

"W-wait! You don't want to do anything?" She asked.

"No."

She looked at the money he gave her and said, "Thank you."

He gave her a nod then left.

* * *

"So boys! Did you like my girls?" Anko asked.

"She was awesome!" Naruto shouted.

"She was annoying." Sasuke bluntly said.

Gaara just gave a grunt.

"Thank you, Naruto. Glad someone here has good taste." Anko replied.

The three left the brothel and as they got into the car Sasuke asked, "Did you guys actually have sex?" Gaara and Naruto both shook their heads, "Good, neither did I."

* * *

"This is bullshit! Why am I the one in hiding? It was your fucking idea to shoot at Sasuke during the funeral!" Kisame shouted into his phone.

"I thought you would kill him! Now we have a possible mob war on our hands, the cops and feds are watching and know we were involved and Sasuke is still on the fucking loose! That's why you are in hiding you dumb shit!" Itachi yelled back.

"So that's it, huh? I sit here in this fucking dump while you guys go about things like normal?"

"No, I am at my safe house too. Sasuke seems to be good at finding us, so I am laying low too. All of us are laying low. You're not the only one who's uncomfortable, Kisame. Also, I got my ass chewed out by Pein. Remember that? We're both lucky Pein hasn't killed us yet. If anything else goes wrong, it won't be Sasuke we have to worry about, you got it?" Itachi explained.

"Yeah, I got it. Talk to you later." Kisame said as he hung up.

* * *

The three young men were in their car, staking out Kisame's house in the slums. He was currently inside and Gaara and Sasuke were coming up with a plan to kill him, but to their annoyance, Naruto kept trying to persuade them not to.

"You guys aren't really going to go through with this are you?" Naruto asked.

"Will you shut up? Of course we are. We have to." Sasuke responded with an annoyed tone.

"You don't have to do anything. Did it occur to you two that you could just flee the city and live somewhere else without having to kill a multitude of people." Naruto said.

"Did it occur to you that the Akatsuki have connections outside this city and that they would hunt us down, even if we moved to Europe they would hunt us down. We've gone to far down the rabbit hole to turn back now." Sasuke explained.

"Do we want to dispose of his body when we're done?" Gaara asked.

Sasuke thought for a moment. Doing so would be smart, but he didn't want to go through the hassle of digging a hole in the woods.

"You have anything flammable in the trunk?" Sasuke asked.

"A gallon of gas, that's it." Gaara responded.

"That should be enough." Sasuke said.

"Enough for what?" Naruto butted in.

"To light him on fire, Naruto." Sasuke asked.

His face paled, "W-while he's still alive?"

"No, when he's dead. A quick way to get rid of evidence." Sasuke explained.

"We could make it look like the mob killed him. After all he did shoot up a made mans funeral a few days ago." Gaara suggested.

"Good point, you have masks of any sort?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course." Gaara responded as he opened the dash and pulled out two different types of ski masks.

"Perfect, we have gloves too. So, how are we going to go about this? He's probably on edge so he will most likely be armed. Please tell me you brought some automatic guns." Sasuke said.

"Yes, I have automatic weapons. Not sure if they work though." Gaara said.

Sasuke gave the redhead a confused look, "What do you mean you're not sure if they work? Why would you buy guns when you aren't sure they work?"

"They were cheap." Was Gaara's reply.

Sasuke gave a sigh of annoyance, "Ok, lets see them."

The two got out of the car and went to the trunk. Gaara opened it and moved a blanket that covered the weapons.

"Jesus, Gaara, you couldn't have gotten guns that were made this century?" Sasuke asked.

"Like I said, they were cheap."

"These are fucking World War two guns, Gaara." Sasuke said.

"I know. That one is a MP-40 and that one is a M3." Gaara said pointing to both guns.

"I know what they are. You sure they won't explode in our faces if we fire them?" Sasuke asked, slight sarcasm was in his voice.

Gaara shrugged his shoulders, "Don't know."

Sasuke sighed and reached for the M3, "I'm getting the American made gun, you can use the Nazi one."

Gaara grabbed the MP-40. Both loaded them, then put their masks and gloves on. Gaara then asked, "You gonna be ok with that leg?"

"I'll be fine. I'll just stay behind you." He said.

Gaara nodded in agreement.

Sasuke opened the back passenger door to talk to Naruto, "You stay here. Do not leave this car under any circumstances, got it?"

Naruto nodded, "Just try not to get killed."

* * *

Naruto watched as the two masked men snuck into the backyard of Kisame's house. He waited for what seemed like an eternity, in reality though, it was only a few minutes. He was getting nervous, he heard no noise and saw no movement. From inside the car, Naruto could only see the front of the house. There were a few windows in the front but it was to dark to see inside. Six minutes rolled up and not a sound. Naruto began to wonder and hope that Kisame wasn't there. His hopes were shattered when he heard automatic gunfire come from inside the house, followed but short loud gunshots.

Through the front windows he could see muzzle flashes coming from the guns, lighting up the darkened house. He watched and listened with intensity. He would jump every time he heard the short bursts of automatic gunfire. He hoped the two would be alright. After a few moments the gunfire ceased and the front door opened. To Naruto's shock, Kisame came running in his direction holding a shotgun. Naruto began to panic, he wasn't sure if the large man had seen Naruto in the car or not. Just as the blonde was about to hide, automatic gun fire erupted from the front window, and Naruto watched as the bullets tore through Kisames legs. The large man fell to the ground shouting in pain and clutching his wounds.

Sasuke and Gaara came out the front door, both had their guns trained on the man who was lying in the street bleeding. As they reached Kisame, Gaara kicked him in the legs causing him to scream in pain. He watched as Sasuke knelt down to Kisame and ask him something. They were to far away for Naruto to hear. He saw Kisame shake his head then spit in Sasuke's face. Sasuke stood up and stomped on Kisames face. Gaara then kicked the man again in the legs. Sasuke knelt down once more and asked him something. Naruto couldn't see but he knew Kisame was telling him something this time. When Kisame was finished talking, Sasuke stood up and nodded to Gaara. Sasuke stepped back and Gaara stood in front of Kisame and aimed his MP-40 at the man. Naruto watched in horror as Gaara fired the rest of his bullets into Kisames body, killing him. Sasuke walked towards the car and headed back to the trunk. He grabbed the gallon of gasoline and went back to Kisames bloody body. He proceeded to empty the liquid on the corpse, making sure he used all of it. The two stepped back as Sasuke lit a match and threw it on the body, causing it go up in flames. The two then threw their gloves, their masks, and their guns on the burning body. They quickly ran to the car, got inside, started the engine and drove off, leaving the burning body of Kisame behind. Naruto sat in the back of the vehicle trying to understand how Sasuke and Gaara could kill so easily without any remorse.

* * *

Authors Note: Hey guys, again, sorry it took so long with the update. Life has been crazy. I had a summer class and we are building a new house, fun, fun! This was probably the most difficult chapter for me to write. Not sure why but it was, and I am still not to happy with it. I am always that way about my work though . There wasn't any action in this one I know, but that's reserved for the last chapters. Anyway, tell me what you think, if it sucked, if it was good. In other words please review! As for a good ending or a sad ending, I still havent got enough votes yet. I am still deciding. And I apologize if the sexual dialogue offended, but I like to be descriptive. Again, if there were any grammar or spelling errors I apologize for that too. I don't have a beta reader for this.


	16. Death Follows Us: Part 1

REMORSE IS FOR THE DEAD

Chapter 16: Death Follows Us

PART 1

Why do people kill other people? Many people ask this question. It's a question that seems to haunt all the civilized human beings on this planet. Notice how I said 'civilized'. Us uncivilized people know exactly why people kill people. They do it out of hate, greed, passion, love, power, etc…. The list goes on and on. You may ask 'did I kill people for those reasons?' The answer is no. I was hired to kill for the reasons I mentioned earlier. There is a reason why I am still killing right now. Its out of survival. The need to survive, the need to live. Naruto doesn't seem to understand that. He doesn't understand that with the Akatsuki alive none of us are safe. Even though Kisame had beat the shit out of him he was still upset that Gaara and I killed him. I don't understand him, maybe that's why I like him, maybe that's why I couldn't kill him, maybe that's why Gaara couldn't kill him. I wish I had the answers but I don't. Why the fuck is life so complicated?

* * *

As the three were driving, Naruto was quiet, unusually quiet. The silence was getting to Sasuke. For some reason it bothered him more when Naruto was quiet then when he was shouting. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Naruto spoke.

"How do you two do it? How do you kill with such ease?" Naruto asked, his voice holding a tint of sadness.

"Easy, you point the gun at them and pull the trigger. Its simple." Gaara stated.

"You know what I mean. How can you murder someone in cold blood and brush it off like it was no big deal?"

"Why do you give a fuck about what we did to Kisame? He beat the shit out of you and threatened to kill your friends and you're feeling bad that we killed him! Maybe I should be asking what the fuck is wrong with you." Sasuke bitterly snapped.

"That's how you solve everything, Sasuke. Kill everyone and let God sort them out, that's your mentality." Naruto snapped back.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Sasuke muttered.

"Naruto, being able to kill people is a curse and a blessing all in one. You have no idea how liberating it is to kill someone that has pissed you off. To not abide by the rules of man, to go against society, to take a life, its an amazing feeling. Its even better knowing you got away with it. The cursed part of it is never being able to live a normal life. Once you start this job you can never turn back." Gaara explained.

"You're sick. Both of you are." Naruto said.

Gaara smirked, "You have no idea. I wouldn't expect a 'normal' person to understand how we are able to do what we do. Its something that your average human being will never be able to comprehend."

"You're right, I don't comprehend it." Naruto said.

"Why now, Naruto? Why are you bitching now? You've seen what I've done, and you know what I do. I thought we had a similar discussion about this. Why are you pulling this shit now?" Sasuke asked in a frustrated tone.

"It's to much. I've lead a pretty normal life. I was living the average persons life and I was content with that. You've shown me the dark side of humanity that I never really wanted to see, and you gave me a front row seat to it. It's little much for me to take in." Naruto explained, his voice sounded weak.

"It's called reality, Naruto. The world is a shitty place, and humans are the most evil creatures on it. What you've seen is nothing. And I never intended for you to get into this mess in the first place. If you wouldn't have bought that ramen, none of this would've happened." Sasuke said.

"Oh, well pardon me all to hell! So, its all my fault? Maybe its your fucking fault, because you're a fucking psychopath killer!" Naruto shouted in anger.

Sasuke whipped around and aimed his gun at Naruto's face. Naruto stared into the barrel of the gun then he looked into Sasuke's eyes. Naruto's eyes held a certain sadness to them.

"It must be horrible being you." Naruto softly said.

Their was a moment of silence. Gaara kept looking at his rearview mirror to see Naruto then he would glance at Sasuke. Sasuke finally lowered his gun then said, "It is horrible being me. And you pointing this shit out isn't making things any easier."

Sasuke turned around to face the front then grunted in pain.

"Fuck." He muttered.

"What's wrong?" Gaara asked.

"My damn leg. Its hurting again. Where are my pills?" He asked as he began to search the car.

"Under your seat." Gaara answered.

Sasuke reached under the car seat and found his prize. He popped the bottle open and dry swallowed two pills.

"What are those?" Naruto asked.

"Painkillers, you want some?" Sasuke said with sarcasm.

"I'll pass."

Sasuke shrugged, "Your loss."

* * *

To say Itachi was surprised was an understatement. When he heard the news the next morning he almost wanted to cry, almost. Despite Kisame fucking up the hit on Sasuke, they were still close. When he heard that the police had found his charred body outside his house he lost it. The news said it was revenge from the mob after their attack at the funeral. It even seemed like a mob hit, it was done sloppy, and the body was left for the cops to find it. Itachi was almost fooled, but he knew better. Sasuke was smart, he had everyone else fooled but not him.

Itachi was running out of ideas. He didn't know what to do anymore. Sasuke was a killing machine, a good one at that. He was taking out the Akatsuki one by one with ease. They weren't prepared for someone like him. His boss kept telling him to take care of it like it was some easy chore, but it wasn't. Sasuke was like a bad itch that wouldn't go away no matter how much you scratched it.

He couldn't believe that his little brother was destroying one of the most powerful underground organizations in the city. It was almost like he was invincible. Little did the older Uchiha know, Sasuke was far from invincible.

* * *

Sasuke was laying on the couch at their hideout sound asleep. Naruto was drinking a beer, and still wide awake, unable to fall asleep. Gaara, who also seemed to never sleep, was awake cleaning some of his 'tools'.

"What are those?" Naruto asked.

"Tools." Gaara stated.

"For what?"

Gaara gave Naruto a creepy look, "Do you really want to know?"

Naruto thought about it, then decided he didn't want to know. He shook his head and said, "No."

"Thought so." Gaara replied.

"Do you torture people?" Naruto asked.

Gaara looked up at Naruto, he stared into those blue eyes and said, "Yes."

"Why?"

"Because, I can, and its fun." Was Gaara's simple response.

Naruto wasn't sure how to respond to that. Gaara was creeping him out. Sasuke seemed to actually feel remorse for the things he had done, Gaara, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy what he did.

"Doesn't it bother you? Don't you feel bad for it?" Naruto asked.

Gaara stopped cleaning his tools and paused in thought. He then said, "No, I don't feel bad about it. Most of the men I kill are just as evil as me, if not more so."

"Two wrongs don't make a right." Naruto said.

"That's not true, sometimes it takes two wrongs to make a right," Gaara stated, "Last year I tortured a child rapist to death because the mob wanted me too. Who's worse? Me, or the man I murdered?"

"Have you ever killed a child?" Naruto asked.

There was a pause before Gaara answered, "No."

Naruto thought for a moment, "H-how did you kill him?"

"Are you sure you want to know that information?" Gaara asked.

Naruto simply nodded.

"I skinned his genitals then his face and let him bleed to death." Gaara answered.

Naruto just looked at Gaara, a look of horror on his face. Gaara was truly a scary human, if he was human. Finally, Naruto found his voice, "Y-you skinned his genitals?"

Gaara smirked, "Yes. He begged for mercy, probably just like the little girl he raped. It was justice, I suppose. Although one mans justice is another mans fun."

"You had fun doing it?"

"Yes. It was a bit messy though." Gaara stated.

"W-who are you? Does Temari and Kankuro know what you do? Do they know how sick you are?" Naruto asked.

"No they don't. They would never understand me. And, if you _ever_ tell them what I do, I will slit your throat and watch as you choke on your own blood. Do you understand?" Gaara threatened.

Naruto gulped and nodded, "Y-yes, I u-understand." He stuttered.

"Good."

* * *

"There is four of us left, four of us, Itachi. We are the fucking laughing stock of this city. One man is killing us off. I am starting to get concerned, especially since I saw Kisame's burnt body on the fucking news." Peins voice said over the phone. Itachi was silent, letting his boss rant. Finally, there was silence and then a sigh.

"I don't know what else to do. What we need is a fucking army to sweep through the city and find him." Itachi explained with frustration.

There was another pause over the phone, when Pein said, "That's not a bad idea."

"What?"

"Despite the fact that we have the FBI on our asses, I do have a connection in the FBI itself." Pein said.

"Who?" Itachi asked, genuinely curious.

"A relative of yours." Was the only hint Pein gave him.

Itachi thought for a moment, then said, "Can he search the entire city?"

"Maybe, he _is_ in a position of power. I didn't want to have to ask for his help, but it seems we may have to."

"I'm just hoping its not who I think it is." Itachi said.

"Don't worry about it. Just try and kill your dumbass brother, and try not to get killed for God sake." Pein said as he hung up.

Itachi lit up a cigarette. He took a long drag and thought that his time in this world was going to end sooner then later.

* * *

"Pein my boy, how are you?" Came a smooth voice.

"Have you been watching the news?" Pein asked.

"Don't need to. You and your boys are the talk of the agency right now. A few of your boys are missing or dead." The voice said.

"Its Sasuke." Pein said.

"Really? I'm impressed. He would've made a good agent. So what do you want me to do about it?"

"I need him taken care of. You know what he looks like. Give word to the guys there and have them search for him. He killed Kisame." Pein explained.

"Don't you think it would be odd if I came up with information on who killed him?" The voice said.

"Say it was a undercover guy or a anonymous tip, I don't give a shit how you do it, it just needs to be done." Pein said irritably.

"I don't like that tone, Pein." The voice replied.

Pein sighed, "Can you please do this for me? He's going to wipe us out at this rate."

"Very well, I'll see what I can do…….You owe me for this." The voice said as it hung up.

* * *

"Found our mystery man. We've been looking for opposing mobs or gangs but it was a man working solo." A dark haired man said, handing Jiraiya a picture of Sasuke.

The gray haired man looked at the picture then said, "This guy? Sai and talked to him not to long ago. The guy's a fruit. How could he possibly take out the Akatsuki all by himself?"

The dark haired man shrugged, "Not sure, but he's been doing it."

Jiraiya eyed him, "How did you get this information? And do you have evidence to back this up, Uchiha?"

"I have my sources, just like you have your sources. If I revealed them to you that might put my sources in danger. And yes, I do have evidence to back this up. I just want you to make sure our men are well prepared when confronting him. We are already having all the local police departments keeping an eye out for him. " The man explained.

"If he's as dangerous as you claim, how come he didn't kill Sai and myself when we confronted him?" Jiraiya asked.

"Not sure, maybe you can ask him when you catch him. Better get to it, I already talked to the director and he approved."

"What the fuck?! How come I wasn't notified about this? This is my case, damn it!" Jiraiya shouted.

"My apologies." Madara said with a smile as he slipped out of Jiraiya's office.

* * *

For the last three days, Sasuke and Gaara were staking out the places that Kisame said Pein would possibly be at, while Naruto stayed cooped up in their hideout. So far they had no luck.

"Do you think he was telling the truth?" Gaara asked.

"Yes, Pein is probably to afraid to be anywhere in plain sight. He's not going to be visiting his usual places. It may be quite difficult to find him." Sasuke said.

"What about Deidara? Do you want to find him?" Gaara asked.

Sasuke thought for a moment. He didn't want Gaara near him. Deidara wasn't a bad person. Sure, he had done some bad things, but nothing to deserve a horrible death at the hands of Gaara. He was starting to wonder if he deserved death at all.

While Sasuke was pondering what should be done about Deidara, Gaara was closely watching the raven haired young man. Gaara had a feeling that Sasuke didn't want to kill him. He found it amusing that he would rather kill his own brother then Deidara. But, it was Sasuke's show, he's just along for the ride.

"If you don't feel comfortable killing him, just say so." Gaara said.

"Fine, I don't feel comfortable killing him." Sasuke muttered.

"Want to head back?" Gaara asked.

"Sure, lets stop at the liquor store first. I told Naruto I'd get him some beer." Sasuke said.

The two stopped at the 'Happy Jug' liquor store. The store was vacant other then the cashier at the register. He was an middle aged man, maybe early fifties. He gave the two a smile as they entered. Sasuke gave a friendly nod to the man while Gaara eyed him. The two went to the back of the store and looked at beer choices.

"What kind does he like?" Gaara asked.

"The kind with alcohol." Sasuke answered.

Just then another customer walked in.

"Hey Ken, how are ya?" The cashier said to the customer that walked in.

Gaara glanced at the customer and noticed he was a cop. He kept an eye on him as he and the cashier exchanged pleasantries. Sasuke noticed Gaara's intense gaze.

"It's fine. He's just some street cop." Sasuke whispered as he grabbed a six-pack from the cooler.

Gaara didn't listen and continued to eye the cop all the way up to the register. He stayed behind in a aisle and watched as Sasuke went up to the counter to purchase the beer.

Sasuke placed the beer on the counter and the cashier rang it up. As he was paying, the cop's smile had dropped as he eyed Sasuke. The raven haired man was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"Have I seen you before?" The cop asked.

Sasuke looked at the officer and replied, "No, I don't believe we've met."

"You haven't? Well, this is Ken. He's our neighborhood officer." The cashier said with a smile.

"Is that so?" Sasuke said as the cashier handed him his change.

"Yes, it is." Ken said.

Feeling the situation a bit awkward, Sasuke grabbed the beer and began to leave. As he turned his back he heard Officer Ken draw his gun.

"Do not move." Came the officers voice.

Sasuke was still. His back still facing the officer.

The officer got on his radio and said, "Dispatch, Officer Fisher here, possible suspect Uchiha Sasu-"

The officer never finished his sentence as a hatchet cleaved the back of his skull, courtesy of Gaara. The Officer slumped to the ground as Gaara removed the weapon. Sasuke quickly turned around and said, "How the fuck did he know who I was?"

Gaara shrugged his shoulders and hopped over the counter and brought the bloody hatchet up to the terrified cashier.

"Where do you keep the security tapes of this place?" Gaara asked in a chilling tone

The shocked man looked up at the red head, completely speechless.

"Old man you better answer me or you'll end up like Officer Ken here." Gaara threatened.

The old man snapped out of it and reached under the counter. The sound of a ejecting tape was heard and he handed it to Gaara. Gaara handed it to Sasuke.

"Now, give me your wallet." Gaara ordered.

"H-here, there isn't much in it, b-but take what you want." He stuttered.

Gaara snatched the wallet out of his hand and said, "Oh, please, don't insult me." He said with a hint of disgust. He looked through the wallet and saw a picture of the man's family, "Is this your wife?"

The cashier simply nodded.

"Well, if you don't want anything to happen to her or yourself you better not speak a word about us to the cops." Gaara then pulled the cashiers drivers license out of the wallet and gave the wallet back to the man.

"I know who you are and where you live. You and your wife will die if you talk, and it will be a lot more painful then what Mr. Ken here experienced, understand?" Gaara explained, his voice a deadly calm.

The cashier didn't respond at first. The terror was clearly seen in his eyes.

Gaara brought the bloody hatchet to the cashiers throat and pressed it rather hard against him, "Do you understand?" Gaara repeated, his voice lower with a sense of anger.

"Y-y-yes." He responded.

"Good." And with that Gaara hit the man as hard as he could on the side of his head with the handle of the hatchet, knocking him out.

"You done? Lets get the fuck out of here!" Sasuke shouted.

* * *

"How the fuck did that cop know who I was?! What the fuck is going on?!" Sasuke shouted. The two were in their car driving down the freeway.

"I don't know. He seemed to recognize you quickly. You think the Akatsuki warned the cops of your presence?" Gaara asked.

Sasuke thought for a moment, "Those fuckers, I bet that's what they did. There's no other way that cop could've known me. How the hell do those assholes know so many people? What if I decided to turn myself in and give the FBI evidence? I have a file on every hit they have had me do!"

"Would you really turn yourself in? They have people on the inside that would kill you. If they are spreading the word about you like this, then who knows how far their grasps reach." Gaara stated, "Looks like we're going to have to keep our eyes open." Gaara said.

The two were quiet for a bit when Sasuke said, "How come you didn't kill that cashier?"

Gaara remained silent for what seemed like an eternity, then he merely shrugged.

"Is big bad Gaara getting soft?" Sasuke asked with a smirk.

Gaara turned and gave Sasuke a look that said 'Hell no'.

* * *

Naruto was calmly reading a magazine when Sasuke and Gaara burst through the door startling the poor blonde.

"What the hell took you two so long?" Naruto asked.

The two hitmen glared daggers at their blonde friend.

"Jesus, moody much?" The blonde muttered as he went back to reading.

"Here's your fucking beer." Sasuke growled as he placed it on a table.

"Uh, thanks?" Naruto said with uncertainty. Sasukes mood was confusing the blonde, "Why are you so pissy? Did something happen?"

"A man cut us off while we were driving, almost got us into a car accident." Gaara quickly lied.

"Fucker." Naruto said in understanding. He hated shitty drivers.

Sasuke would have laughed at that comment, but he wasn't in the mood. He gave a appreciative glance toward Gaara. If Naruto found out what they did to get that beer, Naruto wouldn't touch it.

The blond grabbed a beer and popped the top off. He took a swig and made a noise of satisfaction, "That's some damn good beer. You guys want some?"

"No, I'm good." Sasuke said.

Gaara just shook his head in response.

Naruto shrugged and continued drinking the alcoholic beverage and reading his magazine.

Gaara walked over to Sasuke and whispered in his ear, "We probably should leave these apartments. Move somewhere more remote."

Sasuke nodded in agreement. They just killed a police officer in broad daylight. God knows how many people saw their vehicle, and there was the problem with the cashier. Would he talk? Sasuke hoped Gaara put the fear of God into him. Gaara had the ability to do that.

"First thing in the morning we leave. There's a place in the outskirts of the city I know." Sasuke whispered back to Gaara.

The red-head simply nodded in agreement. Sasuke then yawned. The stress of everything was making him more tired then usual.

"I'm going to bed. Wake me and I blow your brains out." Sasuke told the two.

Gaara simply smirked.

"Whatever." Naruto muttered.

Gaara wasn't sleeping. Not that this was a surprise. The redhead rarely slept due to his constant insomnia. He didn't mind it on most occasions. It kept him alert. Sleeping made him uncomfortable. Someone could kill him while he was sleeping. He was vulnerable when sleeping.

Naruto made him feel vulnerable. But in a different way. Naruto made him care. Caring was not an emotion he liked having. As a matter of fact it was an emotion he never really had until he met the blonde. Sure, he _cared _for Temari and Kankuro, but he had too, they were family. Naruto was some guy who kept bugging him to be his friend.

When Kankuro first introduced the blonde to him, he couldn't stand him. He was loud, weird, and overly friendly. While Gaara was, well, Gaara. It wasn't till he realized that Naruto was being genuine in wanting him to be his friend, that he started feeling weird. He found being around the blonde was comforting. He made him smile, something he rarely did. And for some reason, it made him want to kill the blonde.

One night Gaara found himself sitting in his car outside Naruto's apartment. He was having a mind battle with himself. He was considering going up to Naruto's apartment and killing him in his sleep. That way he wouldn't have to feel these emotions that he felt. Obviously, he didn't go through with it.

Gaara's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a small noise from outside the apartment complex. He was instantly on alert. The place they were staying at was abandoned. He quickly grabbed his handgun and looked out the window. To his surprise there were quite a few men dressed in SWAT uniforms entering the complex.

"Fuck." He muttered to himself.

* * *

Authors Note: My God, I haven't updated this in over a year! Sorry it took so long. Lots of crazy things have been going on. I moved, twice. Dealt with some fucked up family issues (its all better now) and graduated college (Woo Hoo!) This chapter was originally over fifty pages long, so I decided to split it into two parts due to its length. Violence and action in the next half. Be prepared for some sad stuff in the next chapter. Its not the last chapter but its close. I will probably post the next half of this chapter in a week. Please review and hope you guys like it! If there are spelling mistakes and what not I apologize. I went over it quite a few times and so did a friend of mine, but we probably missed stuff, sorry!


	17. Authors Note! Story will continue!

AUTHORS NOTE

Hey all! Just letting you know, I do plan on finishing up this story! It has been a long ass time since I have updated, and I apologize. I really do appreciate all the reviews and all who have read this story. I have made it a goal to finish it. I am almost done with the next chapter and I know how I am going to end this story, just got to put it on paper...well, digital paper. I have it all in my mind its just hard to put in written form. Thanks again!


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